Tainted Stone
by DreamStar14
Summary: The Earth itself was being poisoned and Dustin and Emily are affected by it. Can both Ranger teams work together long enough to defeat the monster? They must do it quick, because for Dustin and Emily, time is running out. Blake/Tori, Jayden/Emily, Co-written with StarSlingerSnitch
1. Chapter 1: Rangers Again

A/N: Here is a story that I have always wanted to get out. Crossover between Samurai and Ninja Storm. Pairings include Jayden/Emily, Kevin/Mia, and Blake/Tori!

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers!

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

Power Rangers – Tainted Stone

By: DreamStar14 & StarSlingerSnitch

Chapter 1: Rangers Again

"And Hunter Bradley crosses the finish line in record time!" the announcer's voice rings over the cheering din. His friends scream the loudest as he circles back around.

It's a bright, sunny day, the first day of summer actually, and so to celebrate, the US Action Games taking place at Blue Bay Harbor are taking place.

The track is crowded, with racing, freestyle, and supermotor all happening. The winner of the recent race takes off his red helmet and grins at the navy-clad boy coming up on his bike beside him.

"Guess you still got it," he says as he pulls his bike to a stop before his older brother, Hunter. Hunter nods, still smiling.

"Yep. Just because I don't do it as much anymore doesn't mean that I can't still whip your butt," he teases Blake. Blake shakes his head at the smug look on his brother's face.

"Oh yeah? Come on, one more time around. Just you and me," he challenges him. Hunter shakes some blond hair out of his rolling eyes. In the bright sunlight, he shields his them with one hand, looking for his friends. He sees them coming closer to them, fighting their way through the crowd.

"Love to, but we can't. We have to watch Dustin in freestyle, remember?"

"Are you sure you aren't just saying that because you're scared of losing to me?"

"Cause, you know, I didn't just beat you," Hunter laughs. Blake just shrugs, still beaming. Their friends reach them, all grinning broadly.

"That was awesome Hunter! The way you went around that track-wow!" Dustin exclaims as he bumps fists with Hunter. Dustin is already outfitted in his motocross gear, ready for his freestyle competition. Shane slings an arm over Hunter's shoulder.

"So Blake, what does that say about you? Your older brother, head sensei of the Thunder Ninja Academy, just beat you, who has a racing career. Let's think about this." Shane puts his hand to his chin, pretending to think as Blake shoves him.

"I guess it's a little embarrassing," he mumbles. The blonde next to him nudges him, a smile on her face.

"It's okay Blake. Maybe you were just having an off day." Blake beams at Tori's attempt to comfort him. It's true he's had a crush on the former blue Wind ranger for quite some time but he doesn't exactly know how to pursue it. Of course, they're close friends, and they both know how much more they each like each other, but they haven't exactly done anything about it yet.

"I don't mean to interrupt you two," Dustin starts, seeing how Blake and Tori are looking at each other, beaming and blushing, "but my competition is in ten minutes. I really have to go."

"Don't worry bro, go on. We'll be there in a minute," Hunter encourages him. Shane nods, slapping him gently on the back. Dustin groans good-naturally.

"Yeah, and good luck!" he calls out after Dustin as he gets swallowed up by the crowd. He can barely see his friend in yellow through the throngs of people. But Dustin had always been a little like that-you could tell he was different from a mile away. A great guy, definitely, but quirky and some people just didn't know how to handle him.

"Come on, Blake," Hunter shoves him a little bit then smirks as Blake glares at him. Tori just smiles and rolls her eyes at Shane.

"Should we get going then?" she asks as Perry comes to take away Hunter and Blake's bike. He's smiling a little, glancing around every five seconds, but he does that. All. The. Time.

"Yo, thanks, Perry. We'll pick them up later," Blake tells him. Perry nods, his backwards baseball cap close to falling off.

"Gotcha, and I just want to say that was awesome racing there, guys! I mean, Blake, we need to work on your tires a little bit and the brake wasn't working too well. Hunter, your carburetor was actually slowing you down a little bit, so we're going to have to fix that." The others just stand there awkwardly, not really knowing what Perry's talking about.

"Okay Perry, thanks. We'll look into it later, okay? See ya," Blake says, taking Tori by the arm and with his helmet in his other hand, he leads her towards the freestyle track. Shane and Hunter exchange glances and shake their heads. Shane follows as Hunter thanks Perry once again and then catches up to them as they tease each other. Suddenly, his phone rings.

"You had your phone with you on the track?" Tori asks him with a raised eyebrow. Hunter grins sheepishly as he shrugs.

"Habit." He lifts it to his ear. "Hey."

"Hi Hunter, it's-"

"Cam," Hunter cuts him off, smirking at himself as Cam makes a frustrated sigh.

"Why do you feel the need to have to interrupt me? And how'd you know it was me?"

"Cause it's fun. And I know your voice." Cam sighs again, but it sounds more stressed, more tired. Cam normally is alert, for anything, so to hear him like this is different. He hasn't sounded like this since-

No. Don't think about it.

"What's up Cam?" Hunter asks causally, trying to banish that thought from his head.

"Well actually I'm at Ninja Ops-trying to find a book for one of my lessons, when the computer started showing weird traces. It's almost like an energy surge coming from Earth's center. "Hunter feels his own center turn to lead but tries to keep calm.

"I thought there were other rangers to take care of this kind of stuff. So what are they doing?"

"Hunter, it seems to be too big for even the current rangers now. You should see it-it's giving off a signal that is similar to the signal Lothor's monsters used to give off. I'm not sure if it's their nucleotide sequences are compatible or that they've somehow evolved, but it definitely looks like they have something to do with Lothor." Hunter's fist tightens at the name. True it's been a while since he was sealed away in the Abyss of Evil, but after learning that he had been the cause of so much of the Bradley's pain, Hunter still hasn't forgiven him fully just yet. There's still a little part of him that resents him, resents his powers, resents even becoming a ranger. He probably wouldn't have found such great friends, but his adoptive parents would still be alive and him and Blake would have somewhat normal lives.

"What should we do?" Hunter's question comes through clenched teeth. The others have noticed Hunter's stiff posture and turn to him, waiting for an explanation to his sudden behavior. He shakes his head, telling them he'll let them know after.

"Could you guys come here? I've already contacted Dad so he'll be on his way. I know Dustin has a competitions and everything, but we'll let him be for now. It may turn up to be nothing. Oh, and Hunter?"

"Yeah?" Hunter was about to hang up but stayed on, wondering what else Cam has to say. He's pretty much the bearer of bad news already, what could it be now?

"Get ready to ranger up." Cam hangs up, leaving Hunter with a sudden feeling of adrenaline at the thought of being a ranger, worry over what to do, and concern about what's going on and why the current team can't handle it.

"Well?" Shane asks, tapping his foot. Hunter looks around making sure no one's paying them too much attention. Of course, since they're surrounded on all sides by eager sports fan, it's kind of a lost cause.

"We gotta get to Ninja Ops," Hunter tells them. Their eyes widen.

"Is Lothor back?" Blake asks immediately. Hunter shakes his head.

"Well, not him exactly, but a monster that contains something similar to Lothor's monsters is on the loose. Cam says it's coming from Earth's center, apparently." They all start to ask questions at the same time until Hunter covers his ears.

"Look, I don't know everything. Let's just get back there and get the details."

"What about Dustin?" Tori stops them. They're so close to the track, seeing the bikers warm up. Dustin is noticeable in his yellow gear as he gets on his bike. Hunter shakes his head.

"It might be nothing, who knows? We'll call him if it gets really bad. Come on." They all look at each other and nod. It seems that saving the world was once again on their to-do list.

Once Emily's mind remembers what day it is today, she literally jumps out of bed that morning with such excitement. After getting dressed, she races to the kitchen and bursts through the doors, saying, "Happy First Day of Summer, everyone!"

Her fellow Rangers and best friends all turn to meet her smile. Antonio comments, "Someone is happy today." Mia nods, agreeing completely.

"Of course," Emily says. "Today is the day off that Mentor promised to give us." She sneaks a peak at Mentor Jii when she says this. "It's hard not to be excited."

Jayden turns back around to face the man who was like a father to him and gives him a look that says, _'It's only one day, Jii.'_

Mentor gives off a little chuckle before saying, "Alright. Go ahead and take your day off, Rangers, but bring your Samuraizers with you. A Nighlock could attack at any moment."

As the Rangers get up to get ready for their day off, Jayden sneaks back a comment, "Don't we always, Jii?"

"Wait, Jayden!" Jayden turns back around. "Give this to Emily." Jii passes him a letter.

"What is it?" Jayden observes it carefully and curiously.

"It's a letter from Serena," Jii says. "Make sure she gets it."

Jayden nods before following his friends.

Once everyone had dressed out of their pajamas and Jayden caught up with his teammates and friends, who had become like family to him, Mike suddenly asks, "So, where should we go?"

"I would suggest shopping, but Emily says that she said that she wants to include everyone, not just me and her," Mia says.

Antonio replies in favor of all four guys, "Why, thank you, Emily." The latter nods, feeling shy. It's not a big deal, though, but it's been a while since she felt bashful like this.

"I vote for Rainbow's End," Kevin says, surprising Mike. Kevin is the serious one, the one who always takes his training and the Samurai business very seriously.

"Great idea, Kev," Mike replies enthusiastically. "Let's go!" As the others race outside, Jayden places a gentle, yet firm hand on Emily's shoulder, causing her to turn as face him.

He holds out the letter to her. "Jii told me to give this to you. It's from your sister." She nods before placing it in one of her pockets.

She takes his hand and pulls him along with the others, saying, "Come on!"

"Wow, that was record time," Cam comments as they walk into Ninja Ops. Sensei is already there, standing behind his son who is seated at the wide screen.

"Thanks, we try," Blake says, coming up next to Sensei. "Hi Sensei." He nods back to Blake, glad to see him again after a few months. They had had a rocky start when he had been stuck as a guinea pig but during the circumstances, their respect for one another had grown.

"A little super ninja speed never hurt anyone," Shane adds. Tori rolls her eyes.

"Anyway Cam, what's wrong? Hunter wasn't exactly what you'd call clear," she asks. Hunter looks slightly offended but Blake holds out a hand.

"Save it," he mutters. Hunter sighs and relents, staring intently at the screen. It shows a round object, the Earth presumably, and a dark circle straight in the center. It's surrounded by a sort of aura, if you will, that's sending signals to the surface of the Earth. There's a bunch of other stuff, words and arrows, but that's all Hunter saw in his quick glance.

"Well, it seems that there is a signal that is going off from the center of the earth. Now, this signal is giving off the same amino acid sequences and DNA readings as Lothor's monsters, which shows they could've been made from the same strands or evolved somehow, seeing how their homologous chromosomes result in similar gametes that contain the same allele combinations that-"

"Speak English. Please," Shane breaks in. Cam rolls his eyes. He's way too used to explaining his theories in simpler form.

"I'm sorry, I forgot you needed your explanations in one-syllable words. It means they have similar DNA to Lothor's monsters, showing they could've evolved somehow."

"Oh," Shane says. "That's better." Cam waits a few moments for them to understand and sure enough, in five seconds Shane's eyes widen. "Oh," he repeats. The others look freaked out as well. "That's not good. Do we have any other information on it?"

"And aren't there supposed to be other ranger teams? Shouldn't they deal with it?" Tori asks. Cam sighs.

"Actually Tori, because it is related to Lothor in any way, we are instantly involved," Sensei Watanabe tells her. She nods, understanding that it definitely involves them.

"Also, since it's affecting the earth, seemingly poisoning it, Dustin is greatly included with this as well. He could be in danger, just how when the water's polluted, you can feel it," Cam points out. He turns around in his chair and starts to type in a few things. "Could one of you call Dustin? He needs to be here." He tilts his head as none of them moves. "Like, now!"

"I got it," Blake says, taking out his cell phone. He dials Dustin's number, hoping that his competition is finished. "You know, it was so much easier when we had our communicators," he mumbles. Hunter shakes his head at his brother's list of importance right now.

"What's up?" comes Dustin's voice through the phone. Blake hears a lot of noise in the background, yelling, cheering and wonders if he's done with his freestyle event.

"We got an emergency. Come to Ninja Ops as soon as you can," Blake tells him. There's silence on the other end. "Dustin?"

"No no, I heard you. Is that why you didn't come and see me?" Dustin sounds a little sad that his friends didn't come to watch his competition but is putting on a tough face. Blake internally rolls his eyes at what Dustin's focused on at the moment, but feels a little bad for his buddy. After all, Dustin came to his and Hunter's race. But saving the world comes before anything else and Dustin has to just deal with it.

"Yeah, that's it. By the way, I didn't interrupt you, did I? You're done?"

"Nah, we finished like five minutes ago. Great timing. I won though." He hesitates at the last sentence, a bit wary of how Blake will react.

"That's great Dustin!" Blake exclaims, happy for his friend. He notices everyone giving him strange looks, like what could be so great at this time. "Uh, come on man, we'll be waiting." He shuts off the phone with a click. "He's on his way."

"What's so great?" Hunter asks.

"He won, "Blake replies, "He was sad we weren't there, but saving the world comes first."

"Uh huh," Tori says, sounding skeptical. "Anyway, Cam, if we're supposed to stop this monster, well, our morphers would be pretty helpful."

"I know Tori, but-" Sensei Watanabe starts.

"Remember they were thrown into the Abyss of Evil?" Shane breaks in. "How are we supposed to get them?" An idea dawns on him as he turns mischievously to the Bradley brothers.

"No way. I really don't want to go back down there," Blake breaks in, reading Shane's thoughts. He shudders. "Not the place I'd rather go."

"Yeah, me too. I don't really feel like going back there," Hunter agrees. Tori rolls her eyes at the self-proclaimed 'tough guys' getting scared of the Abyss of Evil. Although, they had almost lost Blake down there…

No. Don't think about that. No.

"Hey, it was pretty bad down there," Blake defends himself.

"Actually, Cam has been hard at work on a…special project," Sensei Watanabe says. He inclines his head towards Cam. "Cameron?" Cam turns from the screen to face the others once again. A diagram on the screen catches their eyes. There are pictures of their morphers, pointing out the different parts and their explanations and functions.

"I've actually been working on trying to re-create the morphers," Cam admits. The grins on the other's faces light up the darkened Ninja Ops.

"No way! Like, we could become rangers again?" Shane asks excitedly.

"We're rangers again?" Dustin asks, walking down the stairs and into the room. "Sorry it took so long, I had to take care of my bike."

"No problem, Dustin. Cam, will you fill him in?" Sensei Watanabe inquires of his son. Cam rolls his eyes but explains the situation to Dustin. When he's finished, Dustin is quiet.

"So, I'm in danger of this thing?" he finally asks. Cam and his father exchange glances.

"Nothing's set in stone yet, Dustin. All we're going to do is check it out and the current team may end up needing our help. So, we'll help them. With these." Cam walks over to the bookshelf and pulls out a wooden box hidden behind some papers. He places it on the table in the middle of the room as everyone gathers around.

"What's this about?" Hunter looks around at the others as they all gaze at the box.

"This…" Cam says, "is the box that holds your newly created morphers." As everyone gasps, he lifts the lid to reveal the morphers-or rather, copies of morphers.

"Wow Cam," Tori murmurs as she lifts her Wind morpher from the box. She stares at it longingly and when she puts it on, she feels the emotion she hasn't felt in a long time-a surge of power and a feeling of coming home.

"You've done it again Cam," says Hunter, strapping on his Thunder morpher.

"How did you do this?" Dustin questions, studying his thoroughly, as if convinced it's not real.

"I designed the first ones, remember? It's lucky I kept the blueprints or we'd be screwed," Cam smiles. His organization has saved them all once again.

"Yep, we're definitely happy to have you around." Blake keeps the next sentence to himself. Just like I'm lucky to have Tori around. He shakes his head, clearing it of those thoughts.

"The only difference is that you can't shot ninja beams from it anymore," Cam confesses. "I seemed to have misplaced those blueprints and no matter how many radiation combinations I try with the samples of your powers, nothing seems to work."

"That's fine," Dustin reassures him. "The fact you were able to build more morphers in the first place is monumental enough."

"Aww, our Dustin is growing up," Shane grind. Dustin sends him a glare.

"What about you Cam?" Tori changes the subject before they start to argue. "What about your Samurai amulet? Could you reprogram it?"

"Barely." Cam looks suddenly sheepish, but not ashamed. "That's actually why you can't use your ninja beams-it was hard, but I eventually came up with the right sequence for them too work except it was either let you use them, or reprogram my morpher. I chose my morpher."

"How could you?" Shane teases him. Before Cam can answer, a beeping sound fills the room. Everyone looks at each other. It's been a while since they've heard that. And yet, a little bit of happiness sparks inside them. They're going to be rangers again. It feels weird, at first, but welcoming. Almost like coming home after a long trip.

"Are you guys ready to be rangers again?" Sensei looks at the excited faces of his former students and realizes they've been waiting to hear those words again for a long time.

"You bet," Tori grins, tightening her morpher.

"It's been too long, "Shane agrees.

"Shall we?" Cam says. The others nod.

"Right," they all say. Sensei looks on as they prepare to morph in what feels like forever.

"Ninja storm, ranger form, ha!"

"Thunder storm, ranger form, ha!"

"Samurai storm, ranger form, ha!"

_To be continued…_

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

A/N: Yes I am co-writing this with StarSlingerSnitch. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon. Review, please! :)


	2. Chapter 2: The Letter

A/N: Here is a story that I have always wanted to get out. Crossover between Samurai and Ninja Storm. Pairings include Jayden/Emily, Kevin/Mia, and Blake/Tori!

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers!

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

Power Rangers – Tainted Stone

By: DreamStar14 & StarSlingerSnitch

Chapter 2: The Letter

Antonio laughed and he joined in on Emily's hyperness and excitement as the others looked on. Rainbow's End really was a beautiful place. It was fun, and like Emily said, it was a perfect way to forget about being Samurai Rangers for a day. To be honest, if Jii hadn't told them to bring their Samuraizers, Jayden would have completely forgotten his.

As he looked at Emily, his smile never wavered. She made his day every single day, but just being happy and bubbly and cheerful.

And to think...he had nearly lost her on her birthday, the happiest day of her life, every year. He knew Mike was angry at Splitface and Jayden felt that if he himself wasn't so good at hiding his emotions, he would have lost it too, just like Mike.

_"We're not going to let you down, Em. We'll save you. Just hang on until then." 'I promise...' he had thought._

That's what he had said to her on that day. Mostly, he was trying to reassure himself more than her, but he had stuck the "brave face" on for her anyways, despite the fact that she said she could see right through it.

_"No, Em. Mike's right. You're the best..."_

And yet, he managed to save her. It took them nearly becoming Nighlocks and Antonio coming and saving their sorry butts just in time to do it. But he did it. Using the Clawzord, Antonio drew him out and blocked Splitface's body swarm attack. Kevin and Mia attacked next and sent him to Mike, whole flung him to Jayden. He himself had delivered the final blow.

Luckily, they had saved her in time to let her celebrate her birthday with her "such wonderful friends" that she was "so lucky to have". The look she gave Jayden, and kept sneaking at him, was enough to make him realize his true feelings for her.

He loved her.

He couldn't bear to loose her again. He just loved spending time with her, just like Terry's concert. When he heard his and Antonio's song, he thought of Emily.

_"Being with my friends means the world to me..."_

He could never, would never, forget that line of the song. When she laughed at one of Antonio and Mike's double-teamed jokes, he was, once again, reminded of why he fought for her.

Mike, Mia, and Kevin had gone to get ice cream for them all. Antonio had pulled Jayden off the side and they had stopped. Hearing Antonio talk a mile a minute to Jayden, who merely stood and laughed gently at him, Emily sat down on the bench beside them both and pulled out Serena's letter that Jayden had given her that morning. Taking a deep breath, she started to read, expecting the worst, but also hearing Serena's voice.

_"Dear Emily,_

_I know you're doing great being the Yellow Ranger. I know you get yourself in danger a lot, but every time that happens, I feel it and I feel like running to that House just to see if you're okay, even if it's just a little scrape on your elbow. But I can't do that. I'd be putting you and the other Rangers at risk by doing that._

_I'm cured, but that illness took such a huge bite of my strength, it will be impossible to get myself back into shape again. I just thought I'd let you know that so you can stop your fussing. I'm fine._

_Remember, I am very proud of you, Em. I always have been and always will be. Mom and Dad are proud of you too._

_Love you and miss you heaps,_

_Serena"_

Antonio plopping down onto the seat next to her drove her back to reality.

"Watcha reading?" Antonio asked. Emily folded the letter back up and placed it back in her jacket pocket, seeing the others having walked up with the ice cream, Jayden standing beside her. All were staring at her, interested in what the letter she was reading had to say.

"A letter from Serena," Emily said, smiling sweetly.

"Serena..." Antonio thought. "Oh, yes, Serena. She is your big sister, correct?" Emily nodded. "But what I always wondered is why you are the Yellow Ranger and not she..."

Emily seemed a bit taken by back by this question. "Huh? Oh, Serena got sick and I had to take her place."

"Oh, a duty to family I see," Antonio said, smiling at her bravely and nobility. She was willing to take on the dangerous position of Yellow Ranger for her big sister. "You know an interesting thought?" The Gold Ranger suddenly asked.

"No, what is it?" Mike asked, licking his ice cream, the others randomly doing the same with theirs.

"What if Serena was Yellow instead of Emily?" Antonio asked.

This struck Emily like a knife to the heart. Antonio was right. It was an interesting thought. What if Serena never got sick? What if she never had to take her older sister's place? What if she never met the others? What if she never fell in love with Jayden?

But, she wasn't the Yellow Ranger. She was only a replacement.

"Let's not talk about that now," Jayden interupted, bringing everyone out of their thoughts, including Emily. "Emily is our Yellow and that's all we need to know." Emily smiled at this.

"He's right," Kevin said, wrapping his arm around Mia, who was so close to being his girl. "So what did Serena have to say, Em?"

"Good news," Emily said, her smile not wavering. "She's cured, but she's permanently scarred."

"I feel happy for you, but also bad for Serena," Mike said. "You're perfectly healthy, but she's stuck with an illness that she'll have scars from for the rest of her life."

Emily's smiled never staggered. She gave off a short, yet gentle laugh. "Don't worry about me or my sister, Mike. Besides, we have a day off to enjoy, don't we?"

"Yes, let's get on with it!" Antonio said, getting up from the bench before Jayden held his hand out to help Emily up from her own seat on the bench. After nodding her thank you, she turned back to face the front of the group and off they marched (not really, but still) down the walkway of Rainbow's End.

Somehow, she couldn't help notice and strange feeling deep in her chest. it wasn't painful, but it was slightly uncomfortable. Realizing that the feeling was growing very slowly, she stopped walking.

Mia noticed one of their own lagging behind. "Hey, Em, you still coming with us?"

When the others turned around, Emily's smile was completely gone. Instead, she was lightly panting, but other than that, nothing else was wrong with her. Her smile being gone was strange enough behavior already.

"What's wrong, Em?" Jayden couldn't help but ask.

Emily's hazel eyes snapped back up to her friends. "Don't you...feel that?"

A confused look appeared on all their faces. "Feel what?" Mike asked.

Emily didn't answer him right away. She simply got down on one knee and placed a firm, yet slightly shaky hand pressed on the stone-hard pavement ground.

"The Earth...feels really weird..." She looked back up at her friends and understood why they didn't feel anything like she did.

Jayden controlled fire, Mia controlled wind, Kevin controlled water, Mike controlled plants, and Antonio controlled light.

Emily controlled earth.

Jii had said once that they were emotionally, mentally, and sometimes physically connected with their own individual elements. If the water was poluted, then Kevin would feel it. If the fire was going out, then Jayden would feel it. If the wind was dying down, Mia would feel it. If the plants were poisoned and couldn't grow properly, Mike would feel it. If it was getting dark, Antonio would feel it. It would only be natural that if something was happening to the earth itself, then she alone would feel it.

She got up, slowly, and tried to put her smile back on. "It's nothing. Forget it. We still have a day off to enjoy, don't we?"

None of the others really took her word for it, but they didn't rebel against it either. "Okay, Em. If you say so..."

With Emily glad that they were continuing on with their day off, the group kept walking.

But that strange feeling never really left.

~S-A~M-U~R-A~I-&~N-I~N-J~A-S~T-O~R-M~/-P~O-W~E-R~R-A~N-G~E-R~S-

"So this is Paronorma City?" Shane comments as they walk around. They had used Ninja super speed to get there, but had powered down when they arrived as to not attract suspicion. Now, they were following the coordinates Cam had found back at Ninja Ops that showed where the Earth was marred.

"It's nothing compared to Blue Bay Harbor, of course, but it's still nice," Shane continues as they pass a park full of playing kids. The sun was shining brightly, reflecting off the concrete and almost blinding them, but surprisingly wasn't too hot. Not a good sign.

"Yeah," Tori agrees while they walk farther and farther away from the green grass. Soon it's no more plants, and their surrounded by tall, white buildings with multiple windows al looking down over a square. The square is crowded with people, heading in all different directions.

"Hey Cam, what were those coordinates again?" Dustin asks. He's starting to feel a little weird, like a feeling of…tiredness. Weary. He shakes it off, knowing that their mission has no time for it.

It's just from the competition, that's it. The competition.

"We're almost there, it's just a little ways down here," Cam reassures him. "It's twenty-three degrees, fifty six degrees northwest." He points in that direction as he glances around, looking for anything suspicious. Dustin nods, narrowing his eyes against the sun's rays.

It's very quiet as they get farther and farther away from other humans. By now they had gotten past most of the populated area and were headed towards the beach. As they climb over some rocks, they notice that there's no one else on the beach. The ocean is bare, a vast spread of emptiness beyond the barren plane of sand.

As Tori looks at it, she feels something's not quite right. The water is a little too calm, the sand a little too smooth, the air a little too sweet. Or it could just be that forbidding sense in the air, that even though their rangers again, it comes with a price.

"You sure this is it, bro?" Blake gazes around at the uninhabited beach. "Cause there's no one here. Not even a monster." Cam nods, repeating various calculations in his head and trying to remember the exact code of coordinates.

"That's the thing though," Shane pointes out. "That no one's here. That should be, like, your first clue that something's not right." Dustin's eyes flutter a little bit and he takes a step backwards. He had just been hit with a feeling of…well, he couldn't really place it. It was a mix of slight pain, helplessness, and weakening hope. Hunter nudges him, concern in his wide eyes.

"You okay?" Shane looks over and notices Dustin's strange behavior. He nods, distracted.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. But it's so…weird, you know? There's no one around and that in itself is a little eerie."

"I feel it too," Tori says, looking around nervously. "There's something…ominous, about being here alone. Like something's just waiting to happen." Blake steps closer to her and rubs his arm against hers. Hunter and Dustin catch each other's eye and roll theirs, biting their lips to conceal their grins.

"Would it make you feel better if we morph?" Blake asks her. Tori nods, her blond hair blowing in the breeze that just picked up. Cam conceals his shiver as it blows by them. The others are right. He would've expected something to have happened by now. Wouldn't the monster have appeared or at least made its presence known?

"Come on then. Let's do it," Hunter says. They all take their stance, quickly morphing.

_"Ninja storm, ranger form, ha!"_

_"Thunder storm, ranger form, ha!" _

_"Samurai storm, ranger form, ha!"_

"Now that that's done, what should we do next?" Shane asks, his helmeted head turning back and forth along the length of the beach. Cam shakes his own, the green matching the scare trees still behind the rocks they had come over to get to the sand.

"I'm not actually sure."

"What? The super genius isn't sure about something? Oh no, this is bad, so very bad," Blake teases, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, ha ha," Cam responds dryly. "Give me a minute to think."

"Okay, whatever." Hunter crosses his arms as he watches the waves tumble into the shore. The sound is comforting, lulling. He used to feel this way when he had the Gem of Souls and was hiding it. He feels this way when riding, although it's mixed with a sense of adrenaline.

He wants to feel this way with someone.

Suddenly Dustin stumbles.

"Whoa dude, what's up?" Blake catches Dustin by the arm as he loses his footing, his voice surprised. They all make a little circle around Dustin who is shaking his head, trying to clear it of the strange feeling. He's slightly panting.

"I'm fine, really, guys…" he tries to reassure them. "We should be focusing on the mission…" But no one was listening to him.

"Dustin, if you were feeling bad earlier, why didn't you tell us?" Tori chides him. She's known him a long time and the thought of him not feeling well is making her ill.

"Yeah, we would've let you sit this one out," Hunter argues. He's always liked Dustin from the beginning, even though he was supposed to destroy him. True, he was different, but Dustin's a cool guy.

"I'm not hurt, it's not painful, it's just…really weird," Dustin tries to explain. "Like there's something not right but no one else can feel it, you know? Like it's crying out for _help_." Blake turns to Cam, his posture stiff.

"Cam…" he says slowly. "You know how you said that this might affect Dustin badly since it's hurting the Earth? What if that's it? What if…" His brother finishes the sentence as dread settles into everyone's chest.

"The earth is dying?"

Everyone looks at each other even though they can't see the other's eyes. But the concern and worry is still plain in the air.

"Hunter, let's not jump to conclusions," Shane begins.

"Let's jump to your doom instead!" A voice above them squeaks and they all look up, startled. Explosions happen in front of them and they tumble away, coming up squatting. The smoke obscures their vision for a moment but then it clears, revealing a figure. A monster of some sort is standing on the rocks above him. He's a shade of dark blue, indigo almost, with an oval face and large black eyes. His hands, clutching a lethal-looking sword, are a light gray, matching his clothes. His mouth, grinning sickly, looks like a scarecrow's mouth-only twice as revolting.

They all take out their Ninja swords, standing up slowly. Blake gets his Thunder blade ready as Hunter takes out the Thunder staff, followed by Cam's uncovering of the Samurai saber.

"Uh, Blake? I think we found the monster," Shane says.

_To be continued…_

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

A/N: Yes I am co-writing this with StarSlingerSnitch. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon. Review, please! :) They are very much appreciated.

Confused? Don't be afraid to ask either one of us! We'll be happy to explain it to you.


	3. Chapter 3: The Meeting

A/N: Here is a story that I have always wanted to get out. Crossover between Samurai and Ninja Storm. Pairings include Jayden/Emily, Kevin/Mia, and Blake/Tori!

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers!

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

Power Rangers – Tainted Stone

By: DreamStar14 & StarSlingerSnitch

Chapter 3: The Meeting

Jayden picks up his Samuraizer when it rings.

"Hello?" He answers, He's pretty sure that it's a Nighlock attack, but better safe than sorry.

_"Nighlock attack down by the beach!"_ Jii's on the other end, and he sounds frantic, like he knows something that the Rangers do not.

"Alright, we're on it," Jayden replies and hangs up. "It looks like we're going to have to abandon our day off. Attack at the beach. Let's go!" The concluding order is short and firm, indicating that they should hurry because either he wants to get this over with and enjoy the rest of their day off, or something terrible is about to happen. Emily, covering the group from behind, hopes dearly that it's the first.

Morphing on the way when they got to a safe distance from the people, the Samurai Rangers run faster, hoping that they will not be too late.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Emily stumbles.

The others stop and snap their heads around as their youngest Ranger drops to her knees, hard, clutching a hand to her chest, as if in pain.

"Emily, are you okay?" Mia asks. The Pink Ranger is the first by her side.

"I'm fine," Emily snaps, harsher than she had intended. "Don't worry about me. Just go!"

"Are you sure?" Mike asks, kneeling next to her. He reaches out a hand to place on her trembling shoulder in a comforting way, but surprisingly, she shoves it away.

"I am perfectly fine," she grinds out angrily. "It's not painful. It just shocked me so much that it knocked me off my feet!"

"Em, what's wrong?" Kevin asks, a strong sense of urgency evident in his voice. Something is wrong with his little sister, but she won't crack, which irritates him, yet worries him all at the same time.

"Don't worry about me. It doesn't hurt as bad as you make out. Just GO!" She repeats, close to loosing her temper, which was nonexistant until today.

It takes a while for Jayden to snap back into focus. But when he does, he realizes that, as always, she's right. They have a Nighlock to defeat. They don't have the time to waste sitting around here, waiting for Emily to recover from what he suspected as a klutz episode.

"I hate to say it, but she's right. We've got to go! Mia, stay with Emily. Mike, Kevin, Antonio, let's go!"

But just as the guys start running away in the direction of the beach, soon enough, Emily, a little slow, has stood up and joined them, Mia close behind.

_'Wow,'_ the others all think, _'she recovered quickly.'_

Just like at Rainbow's End, the strange feeling she's getting never leaves. It just stays there. But that shock...

It was almost as if the Earth itself was sending out an S.O.S and no one could hear it but her.

-N-I-N-J-A-S-T-O-R-M-&-S-A-M-U-R-A-I-

"Great. This really makes my day," Blake sighs, glaring through his helmet at the monster as it jumps down to meet them on the beach. The sand flies up as it lands and he instinctively takes a step in front of Tori. It's just a habit.

"I'm guessing it's him that was causing all of this?" Shane calls to Cam. Cam nods, his eyes narrowing at this new monster that was somehow harming the earth in the deepest way possible.

"Is it weird that I actually missed repulsive monsters such as him?" Hunter asks, adjusting his grip on his Thunder staff. The others shake their heads, mock exasperation. But deep inside, they agree with Hunter. They missed the rush of adrenaline of fighting, missed the strong feelings they got, missed the sense of satisfaction they got when helping people.

"Nah, we all do," Dustin answers as the monsters gasps in outrage.

"Hey, I take offense to that!" His voice, which had been before surprisingly high, was now deep and forbidding but still had a comical appeal to it.

"Whatever," Tori says, squaring her shoulders. She's itching to fight with this one, to prove to him that when they are related in any way at all to Lothor, that they're definitely going to get their butt kicked. "Let's just get this started."

"After you," Blake says. Tori smiles inside her helmet while the others roll their eyes behind theirs. There they go again, dancing around what they really want to say.

Tori, Dustin, and Hunter all run at the monster at the same time until he blasts a shot at them. They stop, but only until the smoke clears and then go after him again.

"Aren't you going to let me introduce myself?" the creature asks, dodging their blows. Hunter clenches his teeth and aims a punch to the gut that the monster blocks, yet he didn't see the hit coming to him from Cam who had sneaked up on him.

"No, cause we don't really care. All we want is you gone!" Shane declares, jumping over his friend's head and kicking him in the chest. He falls, uttering a cry of pain but instantly rises.

"Well then, we're going to have to change that." The creature ducks under a kick that Blake sent his way and delivers a blow to his chest that sends the Navy ranger gasping on his back. The creature then slashes his brother, Tori, Shane, and Cam. They all land hard beside Blake, trying to catch their breath. Those hits took a lot out of them, like it's crushing their lungs.

"Don't worry guys, I'll cover you," Dustin reassures them, standing in front of their prone figures. He raises his Lion Hammer. "This calls for some serious business."

"Actually, I'd be more worried about yourself," the monster sneers. Dustin stops his hammer in midair.

"What?"

"You heard me. How can you fight me when you're already fighting my poison?" Dustin pauses again, warily eyeing the monster. So that was what was making him feel so weird. This is the thing that's hurting the earth – the thing they have to destroy.

"You feel it, don't you? It's killing you, and the Yellow Samurai!" he cackles. The other rangers look at each other, horrified but still unable to get up.

"We have to help him," Shane pants, rising on his forearms but stopping there.

"We can't even help ourselves, what can we do?" Cam struggles to get up, yet makes it only halfway.

"Come on man, be positive," Blake says, trying to assist Tori to her feet, but them both failing.

"I'm going to stop you right now." Dustin charges forward, his Lion Hammer poised for attack. But it never hit the other.

The monster skirts around it and gives Dustin quick, short hits to the torso, knocking him flat on his back. Dustin gets up slowly, leaning heavily on his hammer.

"So that's how it's going to be? Alright then." He starts forward again, only to be shoved to the side and get a kick to the back that sends him flying. He de-morphs and lands a few feet away from his friends, breathing in air deeply. He swipes back his tousled hair to find the monster advancing on him.

"Ready for more?" the monster smirks at him, his black eyes triumphant. Dustin grips the sand, trying to find a balance to himself. But he feels drained. Weary. He can't breathe, it's closing in on him, the wide open sky, the fading sun, it's all too much. It's too bright, too open, too free. He can't take it, his lungs aren't' working. A strangled gasp escapes his mouth as he feels like he's about to faint.

"Guess not," the monster shrugs, raising his gray sword.

"No!" Tori cries, reaching her hand out.

"Dustin!" calls Shane.

"Get up man, get up!" Blake encourages, holding onto Tori's other arm.

"Don't!" Hunter tries to get up, but it's still futile. The hits he got to the chest feel like they're crushing his lungs, pushing them close together with no room to breathe.

"Move, Dustin!" Cam is frustrated with this predicament, with him and the others immobile while Dustin's in danger. But there's nothing to do.

Dustin raises his arms when he sees the sword whooshing down. It's all the strength he can summon up now, as he waits for the blow. But it never comes.

"Surprise!" a voice calls out. Dustin looks up, startled, his eyes slightly closed. He sees… another red ranger? But that's…

He looks to see Shane still on the ground and realizes that there's a whole other team of rangers standing next to the unknown red ranger. Their helmets all have different shapes and there appear to be six in all, two girls and four guys.

"Don't worry, get to safety," the yellow one tells him, her voice sweet. Dustin struggles to comprehend what she's saying, the words moving slowly through his brain.

"Hey dude, check it out, other rangers!" the green one says, pointing at the Ninja storm rangers. "Did you know there were others?"

"I didn't," the blue adds, shaking his head. "Focus, Mike. The monster?"

"Oh yeah," the one called Mike answers. He steps up closer to the red one. The yellow is still trying to move Dustin but it's not working very well. With the arrival of these new rangers, he's feeling better. But there's something not right.

"Oh darn. You just had to come and ruin this, didn't' you? Well don't' worry, I'll be back!" the monster turns on his indigo heels and disappears in a flash of sparks. The new rangers look at each other and power down. The Ninja storm rangers have finally gotten enough energy to stand and rush over to Dustin.

"Speak to me, bro! Speak to me!" Shane helps Dustin up, his arm around Shane's shoulder.

"Hey, you okay man?" Hunter asks him, supporting him on the other side. Dustin nods slightly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's just…weird."

"You're not fine," Tori reprimands him. "We gotta check this out."

"I'm sorry, but who are you and how are you rangers?" The Ninja Storm rangers turn their heads to find a group around their age, maybe a little younger, standing before them.

"I'd like to know the same about them," Hunter says, adjusting Dustin on his shoulder. He didn't recognize these newcomers, an African American male, a blond girl, an Asian girl, a brown haired young man, a Latino, and another Hispanic looking guy.

The new rangers, presumably. Doesn't look like much, Hunter thinks. But then again, we didn't either.

Cam realizes who these teenagers are, from their uniforms. He's had to keep up with all the current rangers' teams, ones before him and after, in case something like this happens. And wouldn't you know, it happened.

"They must be the Samurai rangers," Cam whispers out of the side of his mouth to the others. They nod, understanding now. "They're the rangers now."

"Ah," Blake inclines his head.

"We'd really like to know who you guys are," the African American interjects.

"You mean you don't' know?" Shane asks incredulously. They shake their heads and Tori realizes that they're still morphed. How would they know, then?

"We're the Wind and Thunder power rangers," Cam explains.

_To be continued…_

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

A/N: Yes I am co-writing this with StarSlingerSnitch. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon. Review, please! :) They are very much appreciated.

Confused? Don't be afraid to ask either one of us! We'll be happy to explain it to you.


	4. Chapter 4: Overlapped History

A/N: Here is a story that I have always wanted to get out. Crossover between Samurai and Ninja Storm. Pairings include Jayden/Emily, Kevin/Mia, and Blake/Tori!

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers!

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

Power Rangers – Tainted Stone

By: DreamStar14 & StarSlingerSnitch

Chapter 4: Overlapped History

"The Wind and Thunder power rangers?" Mike repeats. The other team nods their heads, except for the brunette, whome Jayden notices is Emily's new object of interest. "Never heard of them."

Kevin steps up, proud smile on his face, acting as if he knows something they don't. "I have. After the whole deal with Scott and the RPM rangers, I've started studying up on the previous Power Ranger teams. Mike, guys, this is the eleventh team on the list, dubbed the Power Rangers: Ninja Storm."

The Crimson Ranger is impressed. At least someone knows who they are. He turns to his Red Ranger, who nods. One by one, they power down as Kevin calls them off.

"Shane, the Red Wind Ranger, Hunter, the Crimson Thunder Ranger, Tori, the Blue Wind Ranger, Blake, the Navy Thunder Ranger, Cam, the Green Samurai Ranger, and-"

"-Dustin, the Yellow Wind Ranger," Emily interupts, as if she knows who he is already.

Oh, great, she even knows his name, Jayden thinks, sarcastically.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no! He is not jealous. He only's concerned. That's right. Just worried.

Dustin and Emily meet eyes for the first time. Hazel and choclate brown eyes connect. She feels a conncetion with him along with the most worry she's ever had for anyone, not even Serena or Jayden. She's about to explore his soul a little deeper, but a sharp, loud 'ahem' from Jayden prevents her from doing that, and thus, breaks the connection.

Jayden is happy now that she's broken her focus from him, the stranger. He continues, "We're the-"

"Power Rangers: Samurai," Cam intervenes. "Jayden, the Red, Kevin, the Blue, Mike, the Green, Mia, the Pink, Antonio, the Gold, and -"

"Emily, the Yellow," Dustin finishes. Major deja vu. This was way beyond weird now, but he feels like they are connected, he and Emily. They know each other's name, like they've known each other for a long time, even though they only just met not even five minutes ago. They're both yellow-!

Wait! Hold it!

What the monster said to him came back to his mind, even though it never really left.

_"It's killing you, and the Yellow Samurai!"_

He understands now. She was the Yellow Samurai and he had seen the Japanese kanji for Earth on her helmet, indicating that she controls the element of earth, just like he did. That meant that she must have felt the poison as well, and still feel it now.

They were connected because they were both children of the earth.

He is so deep in thought, he doesn't notice or hear the conversation around and above him. He's just focused on Emily.

"Other rangers?" The green one, Mike, asks disbelievingly. Cam nods his head, looking bored at the whole scene.

"Did you know there are others?" he asks the guy in red, the presumed leader. He nods his head slowly.

"I've heard of others in the past, but never really gave it much thought."

"Or cared to explain it to us," Mike says pointedly. The other shrugs.

"I suppose so. Anyway, I'm Jayden. That's Mia," he points to the Asian girl "Kevin," the African American "Mike," Mike scowls "Emily," the blonde "and Antonio." The last one looks the team over, his eyes getting a glint in them.

"Do you like fish, mi amigos?" he inquires. The Ninja Storm rangers look at each other, unsure of how to respond.

"Um, we live near the sea, so yes? I guess," Tori says. He nods enthusiastically.

"Just ignore him," Mia whispers behind her hand. The Wind rangers smile awkwardly.

"I'm Shane and this is Tori, Dustin, Cam, Blake, and Hunter." The Wind and Thunder rangers nod their head when their name is called.

"How about you come back with us so we can…talk over a few things?" Jayden suggests. The residents from Blue Bay Harbor look at each other, then shrug and nod.

"Sure. Lead the way," Blake says, looking at this new team with interest. Let's see what they got.

~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~&~N~I~N~J~A~S~T~O~R~M~

"Ji, we have some new friends," Jayden says, walking up the steps leading to the dojo. The other rangers look around, secretly impressed with their headquarters.

"Okay, I'm not complaining, but our hideout was underground," Dustin whispers, feeling better. Better enough to walk on his own. The weird feeling is still there but less intense than before.

"And much less conspicuous then this," Cam says dismissively as they open the door and are lead trough to a small sitting room that opened into another training room. There are old Samurai getups on mannequins everywhere and a lack of technology-not something Cam was used to.

"Ah, the Wind and Thunder rangers," the older man says before the Samurai can explain. They look surprised that he knows who they are.

"Mentor, you know them?" Kevin asks. Mentor nods, bowing his head slightly out of respect. He leads them into the living room with the Samurai trailing behind.

"Of course. They defeated Lothor, an evil ninja master, who had minions of space aliens and monsters alike. They sent them to the Abyss of Evil and presumably lost their powers. Yet I see you have them back." He turns to the Ninja storm rangers who had seated themselves around the small wooden table. The Samurai rangers take their seats next to them, a little cautiously, as they are a little wary to be in the presence of previous rangers. "How is that possible?"

"Well, having a tech wiz never hurt," Shane speaks up, cracking a smile, but when the others don't grin back, he frowns. "Okay then. Cam had kept the blueprints of our previous morphers and managed to recreate them somehow so we could become rangers again."

"I see. And why was it needed for you to become rangers again?" Mentor asks.

"Does it have anything to do with that monster you were fighting before we got there?" Mia chimes in. Cam looks at her and feels a strange sense of recognition but shakes it off, choosing to focus more on the matter at hand.

"In a way. The monster has an energy field that is very similar to the energy that Lothor's monsters had. I checked up on the signal back at Ninja Ops and it seemed that their amino acid sequences are compatible to the monster today, which may mean that some of Lothor's monsters evolved somehow. The signal is coming from the center of the earth and seems to be affecting the earth negatively, which may be why Dustin was feeling so bad."

"How come you give them the simplified version?" Shane asks under his breath. Cam just ignores him as he notices the Samurai team exchanging glances.

"That's weird, because Emily was feeling bad too," Jayden speaks up. Cam raises an eyebrow. This is interesting.

"Did it feel like you were super tired? Like, weary and kinda shocking?" Dustin watches Emily's face as she nods slowly.

"Yeah, that's exactly it. How…" she looks to her friends for an answer. But they don't know.

"I was afraid of this happening," Mentor mutters. Eleven heads whip towards him, their gazes focused on him.

"What were you afraid of, Mentor?" Antonio takes the plunge by asking the dreaded question. Mentor turns and leaves the room only to return minutes later with a thick book, its cover black leather and the pages edged in gold.

"What's that?" Tori looks at the book suspiciously, it resembles one of the books she remembers seeing at Ninja Ops.

"This…this contains the story of Antis."

"Of who?" Mike asks, tilting his head to the side. The others look befuddled as well.

"I may as well start at the beginning. First off, rangers, you must know that Lothor was once on the side of good. He went to the same ninja academy that their mentor went to as well. In fact, they were brothers."

"What?" Kevin gasps. The Ninja Storm rangers just nod, already knowing the story. And what it had cost them.

"That's so messed up," Mike says, disgusted.

"And they still fought against each other, even though they were family? How sad," Emily murmurs.

"Yes. According to this book, Antis came to the Wind Ninja Academy many years ago, before Lothor-or rather, Kiya, was turned evil. Antis was a wanted fugitive, known throughout the galaxy. He was a skilled fighter and burglar and was on the run when he came to Earth. The rest is speculation, but I assume he met Kiya and they became friends, so after Kiya became Lothor, I suppose they stayed in touch."

"But then how come Antis didn't attack us when Lothor was active?" Blake asks.

"Antis, I'm assuming who stayed on Earth, actually fought the Samurai rangers-your parents," Mentor explains. The Samurai rangers look shocked.

"What? He fought our parents?" Jayden says. Mentor nods.

"It says so in here that the Samurai rangers wounded him very badly and he had to take many years to recuperate. His tale ends here, but I'm assuming that he has healed up enough to cause more trouble for both teams."

"But then how is his energy so similar to Lothor's monsters?" Hunter asks, speaking for the first time. The Samurai rangers look at him, a little intimidated by him most of all. Even Jayden, the fearless leader is a little wary around him.

"I think I can answer that," Cam interrupts. "When Antis was wounded, he probably went to Lothor for help. And Lothor probably injected some of his own monster's DNA into him, which caused their similar nucleotide sequences."

"That would make sense," Kevin says, leaning forward on his hands. "If their DNA strands are the same, then he must have similar powers to the aliens you guys fought. So then if we combine our powers, we can conquer both of his strategies and beat him."

"Exactly," Cam agrees. "I like him," he whispers out of the side of his mouth to the others. Tori rolls her eyes and Blake and Shane bite back a grin.

"That still doesn't explain how he's affecting Emily and Dustin so badly," Jayden intervenes. "Or why only just them."

"Antis is connected to the Earth as well," Mentor declares. "It doesn't explain how he is, but I believe his powers derive from the earth. Or maybe not earth specifically, but rocks and surfaces in general."

"Maybe that's how he was created," Antonio suggests. "Like how Nighlok are made out of suffering? He's made out of earth and that's why it's hurting them."

"They are both rangers of the earth. Since they're so close to the earth, they can feel when something's wrong," Kevin summarizes.

"They have a special connection to it," Blake exclaims, remembering Cam's words from earlier. "Like how you and Tori," he references Kevin "or Mia and Shane."

"What about Antonio? And you guys?" Emily speaks up, pushing her blond hair back to look at them more clearly. "What special connection do you have?"

"Antonio has light," Jayden tells her. "I'm not sure about you guys."

"Our zords are bugs, man," Blake laughs. "But I'd say thunder and lightning, for sure."

"Way to point out the obvious," Shane mutters, earning a jab to the ribs from Tori. "Ow!"

"Thunder and lightning. Fascinating. And bug zords? We have one of those, the beetle zord," adds Kevin.

"That's mine too. The navy beetlezord. Hunter's is the crimson insectizord," Blake explains to Kevin's amusement.

"Guys, can we get back to the matter at hand?" Hunter breaks in, the blank look on his face flashing a quick look of worry for his friend. "We can talk zords later."

"Yeah, sure." Kevin doesn't look convinced but drops the subject.

"So what can we do?" Mike crosses his arms. "Is there anything we can do to stop him?"

"Is he poisoning the earth?" asks Mia, clasping her hands in her lap. "Can he hurt it?"

"It does seem that somehow, he is hurting the earth in some way shape or form," Mentor states, closing the book and putting it under his arm.

"We don't really know how he's messing it up though," Cam points out. "We just know that somehow, he's damaging it-through his powers or his presence, we don't' have any specifics."

"Can we do anything, though?" Jayden voices everyone's concerns. The fading sun coming through the windows is casting long shadows on the floor, showing how late it really is.

"You know, how about we just call it a night and work on everything tomorrow?" Shane suggests. The other Ninja Storm rangers nod their heads and only then do they realize how tired they really are. Getting back in the ranger business had tuckered them out after being out if it for so long.

"Yeah, you guys must be exhausted," Emily says sweetly. "Why don't you stay here and we'll talk about everything later?"

"That'd be much appreciated," Tori agrees, smiling at the younger girl.

"Of course, we have some beds in the back." Jayden gets up to show the former rangers the way. They nod their thanks and smile at the others as they get up as well.

"Thank you for letting us sl-sleep here," Dustin yawns, still weary from finding out so much in such a short time. Of course, realizing that he's feeling the Earth's pain is also starting to wear down on him as well.

"It's no problem," Kevin replies, stretching his arms above his head.

"That's good to hear. After all, now we know how tangled we all are in this mess." Blake turns to follow the others off to a well-deserved rest.

_To be continued…_

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

A/N: Yes I am co-writing this with StarSlingerSnitch. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon. Review, please! :) They are very much appreciated.

Confused? Don't be afraid to ask either one of us! We'll be happy to explain it to you.


	5. Chapter 5: Oath of the Earth Guardians

A/N: Here is a story that I have always wanted to get out. Crossover between Samurai and Ninja Storm. Pairings include Jayden/Emily, Kevin/Mia, and Blake/Tori!

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers!

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

Power Rangers – Tainted Stone

By: DreamStar14 & StarSlingerSnitch

Chapter 5: The Oath of the Earth Guardians

The next morning is surprisingly a peaceful one. Jii had asked the Ninjas if they could stay for a while longer. As this was a safe house for the Rangers and anyone who might be in danger, the Ninja Storm team accepted the invite.

After breakfast, they all go outside and train, but Jayden stops Dustin and Emily before they can even get out of their seats at the table. He tells them that they should stay inside. That way, if the poison attacks again, Jii can easily treat them. Emily softly submits herself to her leader's will, knowing that Jayden is only trying to protect her. Dustin, however, is held back by Shane, who motions to his friend to listen to the Red Samurai. Rather reluctantly, Dustin complies as well.

In the indoors dojo, Emily aims a kick at Dustin's torso, who easily dodges and quickly counterattacks with a barrage of punches. He manages to strike Emily in her jaw, and he immediately pulls back, thinking he hurt her. Emily, however, uses this to her advantage, as this happens a lot, when someone hurts her during training and they hesitate. She strikes Dustin in the chest, knocking him short of breath for a second or two, but she gives him no room to breathe. She grabs his arm and twists it behind his back. He tries to get out of her grip by elbowing her in the stomach, but her grip is strong. She refuses to let go. Reaching around and grabbing the front of his shirt, she flips him and he crashes to the ground.

She waits three seconds and she announces herself as the winner. But when he doesn't get up for another second or two, she finally snaps.

"Are you okay?"

She is relieved when he replies, "Yeah, I'm fine. I haven't been a Ranger for so long. I don't really have all of my instincts back yet."

"I'm sorry about all the aggressiveness," Emily apologizes as she helps Dustin back on his feet. "Something's been bugging me."

"If you haven't noticed," Dustin replies, "we've got nothing but time." Emily understands the expression in his eyes and leads him to kitchen to get what he needs, water.

As she gets his water, he sits at the counter, and she starts up the conversation, "You're good, despite not being a Ranger for several years."

"Thanks. So are you."

Emily can feel herself blushing. "You really think so?"

"Of course." She turns to give him his water. "And you shouldn't doubt yourself. You're a Ranger, which means you don't have time. Trust me, I speak from experience."

"I do," she says softly.

He looks at her with a look of utter confusion written on his face. "What? Doubt yourself?"

She continues in her soft voice, afraid of what he'll think of her now. "Well, that too. You see, in the Samurai business, the powers are passed down from parent to child, first-born. I'm actually the younger sister. My older sister, Serena, got sick, and I had to take her place."

"What'd she get sick with?" Dustin is concerned now, as if afraid that she'll kill herself or something over this.

"Tuberculosis, I think," she responds. "My family was somewhat vague on the subject, much less the details."

"It _is_ serious, then," Dustin comments.

Emily nods. "She's healed now, and she'll live, but it permanently changed her. It's impossible for her to relearn how to fight again."

"I see...so you've always had to live in her shadow your whole life. Now, even though she's finally letting you fly free, it still feels like you have to fill in her shoes and live up to your teammates' expectation."

Emily is inwardly amazed at how easily Dustin understands her. She gives him a weak smile.

"I believe in you, though," he leans forward slightly, giving her a warm smile, almost a smirk. "You can do it. Don't let anyone tell you that you're sister is better than you. You two are individual people. Those who refuse to believe that are not worth it."

Emily's smile gets stronger with his words of encouragement.

"So, what else do you do?" Emily smile disappears and is replaced by a look of pure confusion. "You said, _'Well, that too'_. What's the other?" She understands now.

"What I meant was _'I do trust you.'_ And not just with the advice..."

There is a short silence that soon becomes very tense. Yet, it is fortunately broken by Dustin's quiet reply. "Under normal circumstances, I'd laugh at you and say _'That's stupid'_, because we just met, but...these aren't _'normal' _circumstances, are they?" Emily shakes her head, slowly. She knew he also felt that special connection between them both. "And you know, I would never tell anyone about this, but I had a nightmare last night."

"How bad was it?" Emily asks, worried about him hurting.

One pained look tells her everything.

"That's funny," she replies softly. She could sympathize. She used to have nightmares about Serena's death all the time. But this one, the one from last night is different, "because I had the same nightmare last night too." She lowers her voice. "What scared you the most?"

She saw the same pained look on his face as last time, only the pain being deeper, and she understood, because that's what scared her the most as well. "I know how you feel," she says. "I only wish they could stay out of it."

"But they're Rangers," Dustin shoots back, more aggressively than he likes. "It's impossible to convince Power Rangers to stay on the sidelines while someone else does the work."

"But we alone are the Guardians of the Earth. It's our duty to protect it. We have to do something. But I don't want to see the others get hurt on our behalf," Emily's voice is quiet and shaking when she finishes.

"Me neither," Dustin calms down and his gentleness is back. "But don't worry. We'll think of something."

"So, Tori, since you're not from around here, want to see what Panorama City has to offer?" Mia asks the next morning, putting away the breakfast dishes. Luckily, the Samurai rangers had warned the others beforehand of the consumption of Mia's dishes and they had barely touched any of it. Mia hadn't noticed; as she was too busy chattering away with Tori – happy to have another girl on the team.

"Sure," Tori shrugs. "From what I saw of it the other day, it seems pretty fun. Nothing compared to Blue Bay Harbor, of course, but still nice."

"Of course," Emily agrees, smiling. She reaches over the table to grab the milk and places it back in the refrigerator. It is hard keeping a blank, cheerful face for the others after what she and Dustin had agreed upon. They weren't going to put the others in danger if they could help it. But it still weighed down on her.

She can see by the look in Dustin's eyes that he feels the same way. But it's just something they have to do. "But you saw the beaches. Not bad, huh?"

"No, not bad," Tori admits. Jayden is paying little attention to their conversation, noticing how Emily's eyes keep drifting over to Dustin and Hunter, _Dustin_ more. She seems to find any excuse to look at him. And somehow, that _angers_ him.

He shouldn't care why she looks at him so much. Why should he care if she loves to stare at him? It's nothing to him.

But he can't help the feeling of wanting to _throw_ something against a wall when he catches her eyes once again sparkling at Dustin.

"And what about you guys?" Mia turns to the others as they finish clearing the table. The guys look at each other, unsure of what to answer.

"I thought we'd just stay here, you know, get in a little training," Kevin speaks up, handing Emily a stack of plates. Mia rolls her eyes.

"Is that all you ever do? Train?" Dustin asks, getting up to throw away the remains on one of the plates. It contained some of Mia's cooking creations that had been poked and prodded but not eaten. No wonder he was throwing it out.

"Thank you," Mike says, making a triumphant look aimed at the others. "Finally someone who gets it."

"We try to be the best we can be by getting in as much time to improve as possible." Jayden explains.

"Well that's great and all, but don't you guys ever, like, _relax_? Loosen up? Have _fun_?" Shane asks, curious as to their answer. The Ninja Storm rangers had been able to save the world, hold jobs and have time for their sports. These guys…they are so focused on training. Way more than they were, anyway.

"Of course not!" Emily looks scandalized. "We _always_ have fun!"

"It was a bit hard at first, trying to get Jayden to stop training. But it worked out eventually," Antonio says, putting the cups away in the cabinets.

"I bet it was," Blake interjects. "He seems worse than Hunter." Blake hopefully looks to Tori to see if she thought it was funny and sees her trying to suppress a smile. Guess he was successful.

"Gee, thanks Blake," Hunter responds dryly, getting up from the table. "I don't know about you, but I need some fresh air. I thought being _underground_ all the time was bad enough."

"Be nice," Tori scolds him. She smiles and turns to Emily and Mia. "So, how about that shopping?" Their faces light up.

"Give me two seconds to grab my purse and I'll be right there," Mia says, grinning and dashing out of the room. The others laugh.

"Yeah, me too. Wait for me." Emily sails out of the room as the others just smile and shake their heads. They push in their chairs and exit the room.

"Do you guys have a library or something? I want to see if there's any more information about Antis that we're missing." Cam pushes his glasses up as Shane rolls his eyes.

"Dude, lighten up. I was thinking we'd just train with them. If that's okay with you," he adds, looking at the Samurai rangers. Kevin nods while Mike crosses his arms in a sarcastic manner.

"Sure, why not? Let's see what you got."

"What he means is that, we'd be happy for you to train with us," Jayden clears up, raising his eyebrows at Mike.

"That's great for you, but I'll just ask Ji. I know you guys need the practice. Oh, and Shane? Don't call me _dude_." Cam nods at them before walking down the hall to talk to Mentor.

The others look at each other at his straight forward manner and unwavering confidence to find out everything they need to know.

"Yeah, he does that," Shane admits sheepishly.

"Wow, this is so cute!"

"I love this one!"

"This color is so pretty on you, Emily!"

"That's so beautiful."

The girls emerge from yet another store, walking side by side, bags in hand. Mia, of course, had bought the most stuff so far but the other girls had been tempted as well by all the merchandise they had just observed.

"You know, it's been so long since I've had a _'girl's day'_. I forgot how much fun they are." Tori swings her blond hair over one shoulder and adjusts her hold on a shopping bag.

"Really? Why is that?" Emily asks, switching her purse form her left shoulder to her right.

"Oh, since I was a ranger, I usually hung out with Shane and Dustin the most. And then when Blake and Hunter came along, I just kinda stuck with them. I didn't have many girl friends."

"Well now you have us? Isn't that great?" Mia grins at her companions as they laugh lightly. The streets are crowded so they have to hook arms to avoid being separated. The sun is shining brightly down on them and there's a fresh scent in the air, a feeling of rebirth and cleanness and flowers. A slight breeze hangs in the air as they make their way from the sidewalk to cross the street.

"Yay, lucky me. I'm kidding!" Tori hurriedly says at their expressions of mock outrage. "I actually had one really good friend but she moved away when I was younger. Her name's Eve. I miss her."

"That's sad, when friends move away, but it's probably for the better, so that you didn't have to explain why you kept dashing off all the time to fight evil," Emily says, trying to console her disappointed friend.

"Yeah, I suppose that's one way of looking at it. Thanks, Emily." Emily smiles brightly. She just wants everyone to be happy and always has a way of looking on the positive side. It's not really a trait, for her it's a way of life.

"Well, here's the next store. Do we dare go in?" Mia announces as they stop in front of the glass windows. Blank-faced mannequins stare back at them, modeling the latest fashions. In the glass, they can partly see their reflections. Mia is a blur of black and pink, Tori a mix of blue and blond and Emily a mask of yellow.

"I'm in," Emily says and Tori nods. Before they can set foot inside the store, however, shrill screams catch their attention. All three whip their heads towards the plaza to see a creature terrorizing the citizens.

"I see Antis is back," Mia says, narrowing her eyes. The others nod.

"Guess shopping will have to wait. Come on!" Tori drops her bags behind a bench, out of harm's way. The others follow suit.

Emily is feeling a little faint, just from seeing Antis but quickly shakes it off. They have more important things to worry about. The others getting hurt just because she's a little tired is not worth it.

"Maybe you should sit this one out, Emily," Mia suggests as they run towards Antis who is firing more blasts at people as they run for cover. Emily shakes her head firmly.

"No, it's fine," she says adamantly. "I'll be okay." Mia still looks unsure but lets it drop. Inside, though, Emily feels a little hurt. She knows it's in her best interests that they want her to be safe but it feels like they see her as weak. That she can't protect herself, that she needs to be looked after. That they see her as nothing.

That they see her as she sees herself.

"Hey, you! I think the stores are closing right now. Come back later!" Tori calls out to Antis who turns, his gray armor gleaming in the sunlight. The three stand before him, defiant looks on their faces.

"Aww, that's too bad. Guess I'll have to settle for you guys instead!" he cackles, before firing a blast at them. They dodge out of the way and quickly stand up, getting out their morphers.

_"Ninja storm, ranger form, ha!"_

_"Go go samurai!"_

They transform and hold up their weapons, ready to defeat Antis. He simply laughs at them.

"So, yellow samurai, feeling woozy yet?" Actually, Emily is feeling a little weak but makes herself ignore it. She can't let the others know how badly it's affecting her. She knows she's already behind everybody else and to give in now would just confirm what they already know. She already feels buried deep. She just wants to be free.

"No, I'm ready for what you throw at me!" she cries confidently, promising to herself that she'll beat them. A promise that will probably be broken, but that's okay. Promises either make or break things, but at least that means someone is thinking about them.

He laughs again and charges at them, shots being fired at them exploding at their feet. They wave the smoke away and run towards him. As they fight, Mia breaks away for a moment to call the others.

"Guys, we have a problem!" she says into the phone, watching Tori flip over Antis in time for Emily to slash him in the chest. She winces as Emily is shoved down. "Antis is attacking."

_"Is Emily fighting?"_ Jayden asks on the other end, concerned for his youngest teammate.

"Yeah, but she's fine. Just hurry please!" She hangs up on him and runs to rejoin the fight by elbowing him out of the way and slicing him in the arm. They battle a few more moments, Antis using all his efforts to try and knock Emily down and get her alone but Tori and Mia stop him from getting too close to her.

"Get out of the way!" he snarls at them, delivering a blast that blasts them away through the air. They land hard, feet away from Emily and Antis.

"Guys!" Emily yells, but can't help them for Antis is advancing on her. She deflects all his hits with her Spin sword but he keeps coming.

"You know you can't survive much more, right?" he breathes in her face. She cranes her neck backwards as he grabs the hilt of her sword. His grip is strong and she struggles.

"Let go!" He laughs and ignores her and giving her quick jabs to the stomach, she falls down to her knees. He continues to try and hit her but she's too tired to stop them.

The pain is almost too much. She feels like she's suffocating, air barely getting through her lungs and through her chest. So much weight is pressing down on her that she has to clutch her head to make her hands do something besides trying to tear her open and get out all the poison.

Her fingernails press into her head as she bites back a moan. De-morphing, she bends her head lower, trying to think clearly, trying to be strong, trying at least not to cry.

"Game over." Antis's voice comes through her mind, foggy, unclear. She looks up, her eyes slits, just in time to see his sword raise high and a rainbow flash towards her.

A rainbow of blue and green and pink and gold and red.

_To be continued…_

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

A/N: Yes I am co-writing this with StarSlingerSnitch. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon. Review, please! :) They are very much appreciated.

Confused? Don't be afraid to ask either one of us! We'll be happy to explain it to you.

I love jealous Jayden. Don't you?


	6. Chapter 6: Hitting Rock Bottom

A/N: Here is a story that I have always wanted to get out. Crossover between Samurai and Ninja Storm. Pairings include Jayden/Emily, Kevin/Mia, and Blake/Tori!

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers!

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

Power Rangers – Tainted Stone

By: DreamStar14 & StarSlingerSnitch

Chapter 6: Hitting Rock Bottom

Jayden is the first to check on Emily. She's not moving, which worries him. He places two fingers against her neck, searching for a pulse. To his good fortune, he finds one, but it's increasing and decreasing and increasing again rapidly, in a cycle, like a ping-pong ball during a game. Her consciousness is fading in and out, going from one to the other and back to the first, then back to the second. And you can bet that this worries him a great deal.

He sees her lift her blonde head up, albeit painfully. "J-Jayden?" she asks shakily, her voice trembling, not in fear, but in pain.

"Rest, Em," he urges. To Emily, he's being uncharacteristically kind, unusually gentle, which she mentally notes feels..._nice_, actually. She's _never_ heard Jayden use this tone with anyone, not even Mentor Jii. Despite the fact that she's injured, with her insecurities etched deep in her heart, she doesn't want Jayden's gentleness towards her to stop. It's starting to make her feel...special. She is starting to feel all warm inside. She hears him continue, "You'll only hurt yourself more."

She doesn't know what to say, so she says nothing at all. Unfortunately, she is unable to suppress a whimper, small, but Jayden notices this and the tears filling her hazel eyes. Unable to stop himself, his gloved hand reaches and starts stroking her blonde hair in a loving manner. He can't help it. His heart is going out to her. This is probably the most pain she's ever been in. He doesn't know what she's going through right now, but he can easily tell that it's not making her feel good.

He whispers to himself, "This is exactly what I was afraid of." Her getting hurt is exactly what he didn't want to happen, especially not hurt like this. He didn't want her getting hurt period.

Robtish's Double Slash was one thing, as was Splitface's soul-sucking ability, but Antis' attack just now really took the cake, and even though he held a little grudge against Dustin for stealing Emily's attention, he couldn't help but feel worry for the Yellow Wind Ranger as well.

Why them? Why Emily? Why _his_ Emily?

Jayden starts to feel uncharacteristic anger for Antis. He knows his face is hidden by a mask, but he quickly and repeatedly tells himself to calm down as his grip on his Spin Sword becomes tighter. Silently stewing in his anger, his calm facade on the outside, Jayden stands up, ready to fight Antis, hopefully for the final time.

But the Red Samurai Ranger supposes that his anger isn't hidden as well as he means it to be, because Shane and Mia's energy signatures feel sympathetic towards him. In fact, all of them do, especially Blake and Tori's.

"Aww, what's wrong?" Antis taunts, acting as if he knows what Jayden is feeling right now. "Can't stand seeing her so weak?"

Shane steps forward, surprisingly, as Emily is not one of his teammates, holding his Hawk Blaster in his hands, ready to fire. As far as Shane is concerned and knows, Dustin is still at the Shiba House, where he can't get hurt. "We don't care! All we care about is kicking your sorry butt! We will fight for Dustin and Emily, and we will succeed!" Mia joins him, her Sky Fan all powered up.

_"Air Strike Combination!"_

Mia waves her fan around, releasing her pink-colored energy while Shane fires his Hawk Blaster. Jayden notices his own Fire Symbol Power rise up and realizes that if he wants to make his flames stronger, now is the time to do so. Jayden comes between the two of the Air Rangers, hooking up the Lion Disk to his hilt and spinning said disk.

"That small breeze attack won't do you lame-os any good!" Antis taunts even further, letting a maniacal laugh escape his throat, which only adds fuel to the emotional fire that is the Rangers'. But Rangers never give up.

"But their wind will make my flames stronger," Jayden reveals, his voice firm and strong, giving the Samurai Rangers the feeling of hope. If Jayden is confident, then they can be too. _"Spin Sword: Blazing Strike!"_

Antis' torso takes the brunt of the hit, causing him to fall back.

Meanwhile, Emily's vision starts to clear up. She feels someone get closer to her, someone very familiar. She opens her eyes to Dustin's face.

"Dustin? What are you doing here? I could have sworn I heard Shane tell the others that he told you to stay at the Shiba House and let him and the others handle it..." she asks as he helps her stand up, that vague memory haunting her mind.

"Defied orders," Dustin says. Emily gives him an exasperated look. "But I have a good reason for doing so." Emily then knows what he's talking about.

He's talking about the oath they made yesterday, about not letting the others get hurt on their behalf, to protect them, to defeat Antis by themselves if they have to.

Dustin holds out his hand to her. Looking up at him with now a determined look in her eyes, she takes it. They stand up together.

_"Ninja storm, ranger form, ha!"_

_"Go, Go, Samurai!"_

They both are immediately enveloped in a bright flash of yellow.

Antis is laying on the ground for about a second or two, but he recovers quickly and disappears in a whirlwind, which spins around, taking out Cam and Antonio both by just running past them. The two Rangers fall to the ground and struggle to get up in time for the next attack.

"Huh? What's he doing?!" Mike demands just as Antis appears right in front of him and Kevin, the whirlwind disappearing. He slashes the two Rangers across the stomach, causing them both to fall to the ground, just like Cam and Antonio. Continuing to spin, he gets the rest of them, causing them all to crash to the ground, all of them struggling to breathe.

"You dummies like my super speed attack?" Antis asks, his voice carrying a tone of evil and amusement mixed together. Mia can't help but notice that Emily has a similar attack, her _'Primate Cyclone'_ attack, where she spins around and attacks that way.

But she can worry about that later, as Antis is above Jayden and Shane, both of whom are trying with all of their power to get up so that can at least block the attack.

"When the Red Ranger falls, eventually the rest of the team will too!" Antis laughs as he raises his gray-colored sword.

_"Lion Hammer!"_

_"Earth Slicer!"_

Both said weapons easily block Antis' sword. As soon as the Rangers hear these four words, they all snap their heads up to see Emily and Dustin, both morphed, holding their respective weapons. Both Yellow Rangers then attack their enemy in both shoulders, causing him to stumble back, who unfortunately, recovers quickly.

Dustin and Emily hold their weapons up as if to attack Antis, their weapons lightening up, powering up with yellow energy that eventually flashes brightly, almost white.

_"Earth Energy Strike!"_

The energy coming from both weapons, both Rangers, finally has Antis on the ground, moaning, complaining about the pain. Emily sees this and cheers and Dustin gives the said girl a high-five.

"Finally!" Dustin comments. They have finally wounded him. That's why they're celebrating.

Antis struggles to get up, but all he can do is ask, "How?!"

"They say that your greatest strength can also be your greatest weakness," Dustin replies, calmly, despite the poison still within him, which he can feel, no doubt. But he tries his absolute best to ignore it. He tries not to let it show that the poison really is getting to him. And Dustin knows that Emily is going through the same thing.

"Since you were made of the Earth, you could injure us," Emily added. "But since we're made of the Earth too, we can injure you!"

"Fight _earth_ with _earth_," Dustin sums it up. "You don't stand a chance!"

Shane, at this moment, realizes that Dustin has gone against his request the stay at the Shiba House, request, order, whatever it's called, and gone to fight. He finally finds the strength to get up and runs up to his friend, who he's known for a very long time. "Dustin, Emily, you two are not supposed to be here! You can't fight with such a strong poison in your system!"

"Uhh..." Dustin stresses, while Emily tilts her helmeted head, a tad bit confused, "I believe we just did." He and Emily share a look that states _'He's gone crazy'_, and he glances back at Shane. "And we seemed to do just fine."

"But Emily was still on the ground, severely injured, not even five minutes ago!" Tori gently retorts. "She shouldn't be up and about with wounds that serious!" And Emily feels the pain of being useless returning. Why do they always have to suggest that she can't take care of herself?

But she can't say that. Not to them.

Instead, she replies with, "We're all strong when we work alone, but we're stronger when we all work together."

"She's right, you know. Besides, it's impossible to convince _Power Rangers_, despite team, color, age, or powers, to stay on the sidelines while someone else does all the work. So, please, on our behalf, forget all your differences and be in sync."

"Because that's one of the things we Rangers stand for," Emily finishes.

Jayden sums it up in one word, "Teamwork," the whole deal with Scott running through his mind.

Dustin and Emily nod, happy that someone finally gets it. They didn't even have to reveal the oath they made to each other. But since they're so busy focusing on their friends, they don't see what's coming, which is exactly what the others are afraid of happening.

Dustin and Emily both feel strong, sharp pain in their chests, then in their backs two split seconds later, and then in their sides, in their shoulders, and finally in their torsos, opening both of their old wounds, Emily not even five minutes ago and Dustin from two days earlier.

The two Earth Rangers see Antis come to a complete stop in front of them as they feel themselves powering down unwillingly and collapsing to the ground. They're down, but not out. Not yet. But the others are convinced they these two are out like lights, but Dustin and Emily both can still hear Antis growling.

"That's payback for what you two mellow Yellows did to me!" Antis says. He sounds angry now, ready for revenge, all humor gone from his voice. He's ready for a real fight now, ready to get serious. "And you say _I_ have no chance. What about _you_?! _You two_ are the ones fighting _my_ poison! _You're_ the ones who will die! Judging by _your_ current conditions, it won't be very long!"

The others, only staring shockingly where Dustin and Emily lay, can only hear Antis' words, unable to change anything about them. Both teams are shocked at what is to become of their two Yellow friends.

But Blake is startled when Dustin stirs. Emily groans and stirs as well. Dustin tries to get up, but is stopped by Hunter's gloved hand.

"Stay down, man," Hunter says. "Don't hurt yourself even more."

"Yeah, dude," Shane says, all light and gentle humor gone from his voice and replaced with unmistakable rage. "You and Emily stay there. We got this, but thanks for the teamwork lesson, man. It meant a lot."

Shane and Hunter disappear from Dustin's limited line of vision.

What about _their _teamwork? Dustin wonders. He and Shane would always team up against monsters and destroy them using tactics only _they_ alone could pull off. Even outside the Ranger business, they've been friends for years. Whenever Dustin wanted to help, Shane would let him and rely on his friend's creative ideas. They messed around sometimes, but they were guys. It was only natural.

If that happened before, then why was_ this_ time so different?

What happened to _their_ teamwork, _their_ friendship?

He and Emily only wanted to help and _this_ was the thanks that they got.

Dustin feels his fist clench in anger and rare tears come to his dark brown eyes as he remembered his nightmare, of the others getting hurt, bleeding to death, even dying as they tried to protect him and Emily not from Antis, but from Death itself. He grits his teeth as he remembers to oath he and Emily made to each other just yesterday.

But he also feels a gentle hand over his own tight one. Emily looks at him with sympathy, but also understanding. She too remembers, and she too knows what must be done.

The two look towards the battle that is occurring between Antis and the others and feel their anger rise. Just like in their nightmare, the others are getting hurt trying to protect them.

Brushing all pain aside, Dustin and Emily, the two Earth Guardians rise once again.

Cam and Antonio block an attack together and strike, but Antis blocks it and sends another attack their way. All the others can see through the explosion is a Spin sword and a Ninja sword. Through the explosion and emerging from the smoke are Dustin and Emily. This time, despite the blasts Antis sends their way, they won't give up.

_They can't._

Emily's sword glows with all the Symbol Power she's releasing and slashes upward against Antis' chest and shoulder. The said monster lets out another cry of pain when Dustin strikes him from behind, his ninja speed giving him an advantage, even if it's small.

"You two just don't know when to give up, do you?" Antis roars, heavily annoyed at their lack of _'cooperation'_. "Maybe you need some help." Antis sends, this time, a heavily armed ball of energy at them.

It hits them both, who, surrounded by dark energy and lightning, soar above the others and finally hit the ground, or rather, to be more precise, the two crash into the river, which Jayden remembers with a pang of panic is nearly twelve feet deep, almost thirteen.

They _both _will drown, which, judging by both their serious injuries, is inevitable.

He panics, he gets angry, and he attacks Antis once more.

Emily struggles against the weight of the water against her as it pulls her down. She can't breath. She's paralyzed. She's loosing her will to stay awake, maybe even her will to live. She's going to drown. Why should she go on? She heard what Antis said. She was going to die anyways.

Before her vision goes completely black, she sees the familiar face of Dustin swimming after her.

_To be continued…_

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

A/N: Yes I am co-writing this with StarSlingerSnitch. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon. Review, please! :) They are very much appreciated.

Confused? Don't be afraid to ask either one of us! We'll be happy to explain it to you.


	7. Chapter 7: Of Hope and Doubt

A/N: Here is a story that I have always wanted to get out. Crossover between Samurai and Ninja Storm. Pairings include Jayden/Emily, Kevin/Mia, and Blake/Tori!

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers!

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

Power Rangers – Tainted Stone

By: DreamStar14 & StarSlingerSnitch

Chapter 7: Of Hope and Doubt

They break through the water, feeling the warm sun hit their faces. Emily gasps as her head emerges over the water, trying to pull fresh air back into her lungs. Dustin has her arm over his shoulder as he pulls her towards the shore. Her limbs feel weak so she's grateful Dustin is supporting her. After fighting Antis so hard, using up so much power and being exposed to the poison more than once, she feels drained. Empty. She has nothing left.

They reach the sandy shore and plop down, exhausted by their efforts. Dustin leans back on the ground, arms supporting his head as he breathes slowly. Emily is still sputtering, trying to make her lungs work again and get water out of her system. Dustin shakes his soggy dark hair out of his eyes and looks to her.

"You okay?" he asks. She nods, her heaving chest slowing down a little as her body returns to functioning normally.

"Yeah, I'm fine now," she answers him. It's not entirely true; she's still a little sore from the battle and poison and drowning but she'll live. She's been through worse. "What about you?"

"I'll live." He closes his eyes once again. Emily doesn't want to be rude and wants him to rest-he has to be tired-but she feels they should get a move on. They need to see how their friends are doing, if they're okay, if they need any help.

She hesitantly reaches out a hand to touch Dustin but he senses it and grabs her palm without opening his eyes.

"I'm tired," he mumbles. Emily musters a small smile at how innocent he looks, lying out like this, wet, weary. Dustin lowers his hand, still holding hers until it reaches the dusty ground.

Something sparkles as both of their hands touch the ground.

A small movement in the earth catches her eye as curving lines begin to appear beneath their hands. She lets go and quickly scrambles backwards.

"Dustin…" she whispers, a little afraid. What is it now?

He opens one eye lazily until he sees the slanted lines and then he springs backwards, barely containing a cry.

"What…what is that?" he asks, hands on his knees. Emily shakes her head, just as puzzled.

"I'm not sure…" she trails off as most of the lines start to connect. Now that she's looking at it, it's starting to look like words…forming sentences…

"Dustin…I think it's for us. A note of some sort." Dustin tilts his head. Now that he looks at it like that, he can see Emily's point. It does look like writing.

"It says…hmmm…" He stands up and starts to walk around the spot, seeing which side is right side up. Finally he finds it and starts to read it.

His breath catches as the impact of the words hit him. He feels nauseous, acid roiling in his stomach as his nightmare comes to life before his eyes.

"Uh, Emily? I think we're in trouble," he says quietly. Emily gets up to join him.

"What do you…?" Her eyes widen as she reads the words.

_"I have your comrades. You think you're so smart? Then try and find them before you yourselves die. And we all know it won't be too long. Your greatest strength is your greatest weakness. And this is one weakness you can't heal."_

"Oh Dustin…" she can't finish as the world starts to spin around her. No…no…the thing they both tried to avoid, the one thing they did everything to prevent is happening now. No. It already happened.

"Let's get back to the Shiba house," Dustin suggests, seeing how hard Emily is taking it. He has to keep calm. He has to be strong. He has to be the one keeping everything together when it's all falling apart. He has to.

He used to be the one to rely on others. Now he has to be the strong one.

~P~O~W~E~R~-~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~

"What do we do?" Emily asks his once they're back in the living room at the Shiba house. Dustin shakes his head. He's been asking himself the same question for the past hour and he still hasn't come up with an answer yet.

"I honestly don't know. Cam is the tech wiz and Shane's the leader…" He stops talking at the mention of his friends and looks away, focusing his gaze one of Mentor Ji's plant.

"We have to do something. Jayden…Jayden wouldn't be wallowing is pity. Kevin would be coming up with some plan…maybe with Mike's help…" Like Dustin, she stops midsentence and stares at the toe of her shoe.

"Dustin, Emily, I'm going to do some more research about Antis. Maybe it mentions if he has a special place he always likes to go to or a lair of some sort," Ji says, trying to be of comfort. He knows the two yellow rangers are taking the loss of their friends hard and wants to reassure them that there's still some hope.

"Thanks Mentor." Emily looks up at him and manages a small smile. She knows he's just trying to help but even he can't break the span of misery. As he leaves, she turns to Dustin, unsure at first of what to say so she says nothing. Moments of silence stretch between them until she has to say something.

"Dustin…it's not our fault, is it?" The yellow wind ranger moves his eyes to Emily. She's biting her lip, wishing it's not true but knowing it is.

Again.

Why is it always something that she's done? After everything they did, after they tried their hardest, she still failed. She still lost her friends. She still is nothing.

"Of course not," Dustin says, trying to smile. But it's like his cheek muscles won't work, he can't get a happy expression on his face. "We did everything we could."

"I could've done something else. There was something else I could've done or should've done or-"

"Emily, breathe," Dustin cuts her off. "Stop it. Stop thinking that way. It's not your fault all the time. Cut yourself some slack."

"You don't understand," Emily blurts out, sitting on her clenched hands. No one understands her. Why is she always alone? There's no magic cure, there's no way to make any of this ever go away, there's only small steps upwards that never lead anywhere.

It's quiet for a few minutes as they each concentrate on an inanimate object to distract themselves from the matter at hand. Emily is waiting for his reaction, a little ashamed of what she said.

"You think?" Dustin says quietly, not looking at her. "You think it's not killing me too, losing my friends like this? You think I'm not blaming myself with thoughts that I could've saved them? You think I'm not insecure?"

_'I'd go back in time and change it, but I can't,'_ he silently adds.

Emily blinks away unshed tears and stares at Dustin. His head is in his hands and she's never seen him look so helpless and defeated.

"Dustin… I had no idea…I didn't mean…I'm sorry," she mumbles. "It's just…no one has ever really gotten me. I've always felt alone and I guess I just thought you had everything together." She looks down again, ashamed of what she said. Yet again she made another mistake. Will it never end?

"It's fine, Emily. I didn't mean to make you feel bad." She raises her head to find him looking at her, slight amusement present in his tone and face. "And I don't know if this is a good time, but…I read your letter."

"What?" For a moment her mind is blank as she struggles to understand what he means. Then she remembers. "Oh, that letter? Why?"

"Are you mad?" he questions, examining her face and preparing himself for the worst. But she shakes her head. She's not mad at him. She supposes she should be but she feels nothing, only a numbness of being alone.

"No, I'm not." He breathes a sigh of relief at her answer.

"Okay, good. I'm sorry, but I was bored. It was when everyone else went off to fight Antis and left me here…I was just kinda looking around and I saw it and since there wasn't really anything else to do, I read it. I'm sorry."

"No no, it's fine." She waves away his apologies. Inside, her heart is twisting at the thought of it and how it makes her feel but she doesn't let it on.

"But listen, Emily, don't let it get to you. It never mentions_ 'replacement'_ ever, not even once. You are strong enough, even if you don't know it. Everyone else knows."

"Really?" A small light starts to glow inside her at his words. He nods.

"Yeah, you are. At least you're trying. Before, I hid everything behind a wall. A wall of bravado, an _'I-don't-care'_ attitude. And it worked, too. At least for a little while. But that doesn't mean I'm strong. Actually…it makes me weaker." He looks down at the floor as he says the last words.

"That's not true, Dustin. You're plenty strong," Emily encourages. She doesn't want anyone to feel like she does. She doesn't want anyone to feel that weak, that helpless.

Because she's not anymore. She feels…different. The insecurities are still there but they're fainter somehow.

"You have an imagination. And we need that," she continues. Dustin meets her eyes with small hope burning in his own.

"Really?" he checks, to confirm that she's not lying. Because he knows he's not the smartest person or the strongest or the greatest. He's fallen into traps and been defeated and been lied to and been pushed down.

But not anymore.

"Really," she answers sweetly, smiling a little bit. Hope flutters in her chest that maybe not everything is lost. Maybe they can work it out. Maybe they can face it and emerge victorious. Maybe everything will be alright. "Let's save them together."

~P~O~W~E~R~-~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~

"Well this sucks," Mike says, stating the obvious. Jayden raises his head from his hands to glare at Mike balefully.

"Thank you for that," Kevin says sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Mike narrows his eyes at him. Almost as if expecting another fight to break out between them, Mia intervenes.

"Guys, guys, fighting won't do any good," she tries to reassure them. "We should be thinking of a plan."

"We already tried all the obvious methods, what else can we do?" Shane questions, shrugging away from the wall. In the few hours they've been there, they haven't come up with anything.

And by 'there', they're not very sure of what 'there' is. All they know is that it's some sort of a pit, the walls too high and too smooth for them to climb out of it. Which would be fine if they could just transform. Except their morphers don't work at all. No communication, no transforming, nothing. So they're pretty much sitting ducks.

"We just have to believe that Dustin and Emily will save us," Tori joins in, lifting her head off of Blake's shoulder. The two had been sitting on the dusty floor, trying to conserve their energy. From the last fight, Tori had taken quite a beating and is still a little weary.

"So we're living off of hope then?" Antonio counters. He doesn't mean to be mean but he doesn't see any way out of this.

"No, not even that," Hunter breaks in, standing from his squatting position. He turns form the other and crosses his arms over his chest. "They won't come."

"What do you mean, they won't come?" Mike stands as well, glaring at Hunter. "Of course they will, they're our friends."

"And that's exactly why they won't," Hunter responds, his voice bored. "They're this close to dying, you think they'll risk it just coming to rescue us?"

"Well, yeah," retorts Mike, crossing his own arms.

"It's nice that you have faith but I'm just being realistic." Hunter still doesn't sound concerned at Mike's outraged face. Before Mike can say anything, Kevin places a hand on his arm and shakes his head, a warning sign to not push it.

Blake rolls his eyes at his brother's pessimistic attitude. He's way too used to it and decides he'd better snap Hunter out of it-fast.

He nudges Tori gently and stands up, crossing the pit over to his brother. He elbows him in the side, casing the blond to look at him.

"Look man, all this negative stuff really isn't helping," he whispers, not wanting the others to hear them. As close friends as they are, he's still the only one to talk some sense into Hunter. Hunter just raises his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" Hunter asks, still not meeting Blake's eyes. Blake sighs.

"I can deal with your musings just fine, but the others aren't really used to it." Hunter raises his head to meet Blake's eyes.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Lighten up, okay? I know this sucks, I know it seems bad but you know Dustin. He's known for doing stupid things and coming after us is pretty stupid." Hunter cracks a small smile at Blake's words of comfort.

"Thanks dude. But next time, don't try and cheer me up, okay?" Blake laughs and bumps fist with is older brother.

"No problem."

"I'm glad you feel well enough to laugh," Antis's voice rings above them and they all look up, seeing their captor smiling down on them. "I do hope it's not too uncomfortable down there."

"Oh no, we're doing just fine," Antonio calls up at him. "Although it is quite dirty. Do you ever clean in here?"

"I rarely ever have guests," Antis counters. "You are the first to be here in a long time."

"Is that supposed to be reassuring?" Kevin mutters. The others nod, narrowing their eyes at the creature.

"Why won't our morphers work?" Jayden asks, keeping his tone calm. It does no good to let emotions control you, even though right now he can barely stand not knowing how Emily is doing. If she's okay after everything, if Dustin is taking good care of her. Antis probably won't answer but it doesn't hurt to try.

"Think to what this whole thing is about," Antis sneers. It's not a straight answer but at least it's better than nothing.

"What this whole thing is about…" Kevin mutters, his brow furrowed.

"Hmmm…" Antonio scratches his head. Being the technology genius of the team, he would think he'd know something about what's blocking their morphers. But after him and Cam studied them, they had still come up with nothing.

"Earth," Cam says suddenly, speaking for the first time in a while. The others look at him confused before understanding dawns on them.

"Earth?" Mia tilts her head to the side. Cam nods.

"It's earth. Somehow, he has manipulated the earth into blocking our transmitter signals or this is a special kind of earth or even using leftover technology from Lothor," Cam explains. The others raise their eyebrows-they've never thought of something like that.

"So you're the smart one of this bunch, "Antis comments, gazing down at Cam.

"Hey, I take offense!" Antonio exclaims, putting his hands on his hips.

"Dude, you never had a chance," Shane says, winking at him. Antonio sighs loudly and plops back down, trying to lighten the atmosphere with his dramatic antics.

"It doesn't matter if you know how it works or not, it won't do you much good anyway," taunts Antis. "Your yellow friends won't dare come here."

"And why do you say that?" Tori demands, glaring at him. She can barely see him, as the walls of the pit are so high but she turns her eyes in the direction where she thinks he's coming from. Although it's like his voice is rebounding off the walls, surrounding them, everywhere at once.

"Well, they're threaded with my poison. It's not like they have much longer anyway," Antis says casually, probably shrugging.

"You don't know our friends, they won't let something like that stop then," Mike declares rashly. Antis laughs.

"I don't know them and they don't have enough time for me to get to know them anyway. But it's nice that you believe that." They hear his cackle echo off the walls as he walks away, his footsteps fading. The rangers look at each other, contempt in their eyes for the creature.

"Don't worry guys, it'll all work out," Hunter says without looking at them. But even with the crimson ranger's renewed hope, do they still have enough faith in their tainted friends to come and save them?

~P~O~W~E~R~-~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~

Both Emily and Dustin are researching for a way to defeat Antis, find his hideout, anything that can help them, in the main sitting room, occasionally letting out a violent cough or two, a sure sign to Jii, doing some research of his own in his own room, that the poison really is taking affect. He knows he must work faster, as fast as he can. He knows the emotional turmoil and the physical pain the two Yellow Rangers are going through, and he can't help but feel sympathy for them, so much it physically hurts.

Emily glances up from her reading in time for Dustin to cough again. Both of their insecurities have been faded away greatly, but both the emotional and physical impacts of this whole thing have been taking effect. When Dustin stops, Emily sees something strange in his eyes, but she knows exactly what it is.

Did Jayden cry when his father was killed? Did he cry when she and Kevin took Robtish's attack for him? Did Kevin cry when he was forced to give up his dream? Did he cry when that boy Ryan was forced to give up his dream too? Did Mike cry when his two friends got hurt? Did he cry the next day when they appeared to not be affected at all and seemed to forget all about their friend and his many troubles? Did Antonio cry when he and Jayden were forced to part? Did he cry when Jayden refused to fulfill his promise, to make Antonio the sixth Ranger?

Not once in her lifetime had she ever seen a boy cry, until now.

Dustin knew that Emily was looking at him and he could also feel her sympathy, her worry for him. So he refused to glance back up at her.

Emily could see this as well, so she broke the silence, "It's okay to cry." He finally looked up at her, mildly surprised that she would say such a thing. "My sister used to always tell me that tears were just proof that you were human, that you had feelings. Crying was only a way of expressing your emotions. I know that you feel like you need to stay strong for me, but we're teammates...well, not exactly...but we're still fellow Rangers, and no two Rangers should be enemies. We all support and protect each other. We did it for the others, so why not do the same for ourselves?" Dustin returns her sweet smile and then they both get back to work.

In the other room, Jii smiles to himself. Minute by minute, the two Rangers are bonding and learning to work side-by-side with each other. He glances down at the page he is on and remembers why he returned to them. He knocked on the door frame and he enters.

"Rangers, it seems that I may have overlooked something," Jii announced. Dustin and Emily give him their undivided attention, both very curious as to what Jii had skipped. "As you know, Emily, I was the Mentor to your mother and her teammates, the previous team, and I remember what happened after your mother was attacked by Antis. She went on a recovery trip and when she returned, she gave me the book I am currently holding, which tells of her adventures during her trip."

"We're listening," Emily states.

"After being attacked by Antis, your mother traveled to the Wind Ninja Academy, and went to the Earth Division." Here, Dustin's ears perk up, recognizing the name of his old Academy, his old class. "She knew that Antis was not a normal monster, so she went there for advice. While there, she and the Head Sensei of the Earth Division devised a plan to execute when Antis attacked again."

"She had a feeling that Antis would return," Dustin mutters, all of this started to make more sense to him.

"Correct," Jii confirms. "She knew that Antis would return one day and that when he did, you two would be in danger, but by working together with the Head Earth Sensei, they created a seal to seal the earth power within Antis forever."

"Why not destroy him for good, though?" Dustin asks. Jii glanced at him, having a feeling that one of them would ask this question. "Why only seal away his Earth powers?" Emily wonders the same thing.

"As much as she was injured, she did what she was able to do. Understand this, and the fact that she really did push herself over the edge to set her half of the Seal in place. She succeeded, but she apparently passed out right afterwards."

"Did the Ninja take care of her?" Emily asks, feeling the strange urge to ask this. She didn't know why, but she had to know.

"Yes, they did. They were all protectors of the earth and they were all allies," Jii says, but says nothing against Emily's question. He knows that she is only curious.

"But wait a minute," Dustin interrupts. "You said _'her part'_. What does that mean?"

"It means that there are not one, but two parts to performing the Seal."

"Two?" The two Rangers repeat simultaneously.

"That is correct," Jii says, not really understanding their surprise. "One part is for the Ninja to complete, and the second part is a samurai symbol. But there are a few problems. One, the two parts must be done and completed at exactly the same time. Two, the symbol is exactly like the Sealing Symbol, Emily. It takes a great amount of Symbol Power to make it permanent. And Three, it takes an incredible amount of will power, teamwork, and strength from both of you to make it work."

There is a heavy silence between the three as Dustin and Emily think about their options:

1) They can give up and let the others die and let themselves die of the poison.

_Or..._

2) They can try the Seal, and if that doesn't work, they can use brute force, knowing that they have their teammates to back them up.

"Let's try it anyways," Jii is knocked back, almost literally, by how the two speak at the exact same time once again. But it's not just that. It's how boldly, how courageously, and how strong they sound and how they make it sound. Even Dustin and Emily, themselves, are surprised at their simultaneous answer.

"We have to try no matter what," Emily says. "The others' lives may depend on it."

Dustin nods, completely agreeing with her, yet as Jii hands another book to Emily, pointing out the Seal that she's supposed to learn, he can't help but add, "But I hope that they're not losing faith...wherever they are."

Jii hands him another book, the one with the information on his part of the seal, and the old mentor adds, "Let's hope they're just fine."

Dustin has a feeling that others are worried about them, but...

Where on earth are they?

_To be continued…_

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

A/N: Yes I am co-writing this with StarSlingerSnitch. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon. Review, please! :) They are very much appreciated.

Confused? Don't be afraid to ask either one of us! We'll be happy to explain it to you.


	8. Chapter 8: Bonds Between Friends

A/N: Here is a story that I have always wanted to get out. Crossover between Samurai and Ninja Storm. Pairings include Jayden/Emily, Kevin/Mia, and Blake/Tori!

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers!

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

Power Rangers – Tainted Stone

By: DreamStar14 & StarSlingerSnitch

Chapter 8: Bonds Between Friends

"Okay, let's try again," Emily says, picking up her fallen Samuraizer. Dustin shakes his hair out of his eyes and nods.

"Sure," he agrees, standing taller. They had been practicing their symbols for the past few hours and it seemed to get harder the longer they went on. Ji is right, it does take up a lot of power and with the poison threading through their veins as well, it is no easy feat for the two yellow rangers.

Dustin looks over at Emily to see her expression one of determination and pain. They have been working so hard and they're so tired…

But they have to do this. For their friends, for their teams, for the world.

"Samurai symbol power!" Emily cries, raising her Samuraizer. Dustin gets his own morpher ready, having discovered he could write things in the air as well as her Samuraizer. Maybe he had always been able to do it, even if Cam had never said anything.

Or maybe he is only able to do it because the situation calls for it. When he is in dire need, it appears.

They both try to write it simultaneously but Emily writes it a little faster than Dustin. He tries to match he speed but she's already halfway done while he has barely started.

"Wait, wait," he mutters, trying to keep his hand steady. He makes another line but it's slightly crooked. Emily turns her head to him to see that he's a little behind.

"Uh oh," she mumbles as her arm starts to feel weak. She tries to finish the symbol without collapsing but too late. She's already on her knees with the symbol only half-finished. The symbol catches fire for a moment before exploding in her face. She throws he arms over her head, feeling small sparks on her skin. The marks join the previous scrapes she had gotten from the symbol before.

Dustin thuds next to her, his symbol disintegrating in the air. They look at each other, disappointed with themselves. Pain is still coursing through them but it's the pain that they might never see their friends again that's even worse.

"Why can't I do it?" Dustin slams his hand down on the wooden training floor.

"I don't know why it's not working for us," Emily says, hugging her knees. She's not one to lose hope easily but they had been at this for hours. They are no closer to getting it then they were the fifth time they tried it.

"You know...when I do it I feel like there's a...sort of barrier," Dustin says after a few moments. "A barrier I can't get through it just pushes me out."

"Really? I felt like that too," Emily replies. She leans back on her palms. "I wonder what it is."

"Maybe the earth?" suggests Dustin. Emily looks at him doubtfully. "Okay, never mind."

"Wait, no," she says slowly. "You might be right. The earth may be stopping us from doing the seal because of-"

"Antis," Dustin finishes, it beginning to dawn on him. "Yeah, maybe so. But how does that help us?"

"It helps us…" Emily trails off, looking at the blue sky above them. White fluffy clouds make their way across, shielding some of the sun from being too bright. "Oh! It helps us because if the earth is against us, that means it's not loyal to us."

"You think?" Dustin looks skeptical. "Oh, I get it. If the earth is so easily turned against us, that means our bond isn't as strong with it as we thought."

"Yes!" Emily smiles brightly. "And that means that the bond with our friends is stronger. It all makes sense now!"

"Does it?" Dustin asks, still not following as Emily's train of thought. She turns to him, her eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, it does. We're closer with our friends than with the earth, and we can use that to our advantage."

"How so?" Dustin questions, leaning back on his arms. Emily frowns for a moment, not sure how to answer him.

"I don't know exactly," she admits. Flashes of her friends make their way across her mind. Kevin reading. Mia cooking. Mike pretending to 'train'. Antonio coming back from fishing. Jayden...Jayden being Jayden. "But we have to figure it out. It has to help us some way."

"Yeah," he agrees. "We are going to save them." Memories glide lazily through Dustin's brains, in black and white, in rainbow colors. Shane skateboarding. Tori surfing. Cam working on the computer. Hunter riding his bike. Blake throwing down his helmet after a big win.

He's not going to lose his friends. He's not.

~P~O~W~E~R~-~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~

Jii watches over them, as Dustin and Emily try to get the Seal mastered. They've been practicing for the past ten hours, nearly eleven. Each time they try, the harder it gets, and they get more exhausted each time. It was two in the morning and he had tried all the methods he knew of to get the two Rangers to bed. Yet no matter how many times he tried, it was no avail. These two just refused to take any sort of break, at least until they completely mastered the Seal.

He has watched Emily since the day she first came here to the Shiba House. Even then, she had displayed a sense of unwavering determination that none of the others had, not even Jayden or Kevin. Well, all of them were determined, even Antonio, as Jii discovered when Antonio returned to the Shiba House, but no one's seemed quite as strong as Emily's. Often when he asked her why this was, Emily would reply that she didn't want her friends to suffer or get hurt, especially if it was her fault. Emily was just like her mother. Her mother often put the bond between her and her teammates first, no scratch that, she always put that bond first. She did whatever she had to do to protect that bond, and Emily was the exact same way.

Then it struck him. Emily always put the bond between her and her friends first, and this time was no exception. He had just overheard her and Dustin discussing how their bond between them and the others was stronger than the bond between them and the earth. They needed to realize that their bond with the earth would always be very strong.

Wait!

The Yellow Samurai had to be in sync with the earth but, at the same time, also had to be in sync with the others. The Yellow Samurai had to have the natural ability to use the earth to carry out their duties to, not only the citizens and the city, but also to their teammates, who eventually became their friends. Emily had been doing that the entire time! And there was no reason why Dustin was any different. How could he be so blind?!

The reason the Seal had not been working so far was because they weren't using that natural ability that they both possessed.

Jii quickly sets his book down on a nearby table and runs to the two Rangers as quickly as possible. They need to know...they need to know...they have to know!

Dustin and Emily are about to try the Symbol again when Jii runs into the room, nearly breathless. "Rangers..." He's panting heavily, which worries them both.

"Mentor?" Emily is the first to speak. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," huff, "fine." Huff, huff. "There is something I have just figured out."

~P~O~W~E~R~-~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~

"Ha! I win!" Mike exclaims, throwing his arms up in the air. Kevin sighs as the others turn their heads towards the blue and green Samurai rangers.

"Have you seriously been playing 'rock, paper, scissors' for the past hour?" Mia asks incredulously. Kevin nods, exasperated.

"He's just mad because I beat him more than half of the time," Mike explains.

"That's not true!" Kevin protests. It looks like the starting of another fight. Being crammed in a small space with nine other people, no matter how close they all are, is a little draining for both of them.

"Guys, guys, drop it," Antonio breaks in, stretching his arms. "Though I bet that's part of it," he adds, winking at Mike. Kevin rolls his eyes, deciding it's not worth it. Mia gives him a sympathetic smile.

"At least you're somewhat entertained. I'm so bored right now," Shane comments.

"Well sorry, but we can't really do anything about that," Hunter says from the other corner of their prison. Shane turns his glare on the blond.

"You know, the fear has really worn off by now," Blake says, trying to ease the tension. Tori nods, her head still resting on Blake's shoulder. "But still, I am a little wary that nothing's happened by now."

"Yeah, me too," joins in Cam. "It's unusual that Antis hasn't tried anything on us yet."

"Well, we're not the real prize here, are we?" Jayden speaks up, resting his chin on his interlaced hands. "It's Emily and Dustin he's after. We're just bait."

That is the thing that's hurting him the most. They're left in this prison, like sitting ducks where they can't do anything while Emily, his Emily, is all alone.

Of course she has Dustin, but it's different. He's not there to help her. He's not there to guide her. And it's killing him that he doesn't even know if she's okay.

If anything happened to her with Dustin there…they yellow earth ninja would never hear the end of it from him.

"I suppose you're right," concedes Shane. He sighs from his position on Tori's other side. They had taken turns sitting and standing, as their prison wasn't big enough for them all to be sitting at the same time.

"Do you think they're doing okay?" Tori asks the room in general. "I mean, do you think they have a plan?"

"I'm sure they do," Blake reassures her. "You guys have taught Dustin well."

"And Emily's smart, she'll come up with something," Mike declares. All the rangers gaze at each, reassured but a little.

"So can we do 'rock, paper, scissors' with three people?" Shane asks.

~P~O~W~E~R~-~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~

"So Emily, I've been thinking," Dustin starts out as they two rangers take a break from practicing the seal. Emily looks at him as he takes a drink of water.

"Yes Dustin?" she asks, lowering the glass.

"Well, it's not going to make any difference if we get the seal right or not if we don't have a plan of attack."

"That's true," Emily muses thoughtfully. She pats the step next to her as an invitation for Dustin to sit down. He does, taking a drink from his own cup. "What do you think we should do?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Dustin says. He gazes off into the distance for a moment, seeing the world just beyond the Shiba house. The sun is slowly lowering in the sky but it's still bright enough for them to get in a couple more hours of sunlight. "I was thinking we should just get rid of him first before getting the others."

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Emily states. "What if he could still hurt them? We don't have any idea what the place where they are is like."

"I suppose that's true." Dustin wipes away a few beads of sweat from his forehead. "So we have to get the others out before defeating him."

"That's what I'm thinking," Emily agrees, leaning back on her palms. "Question is, how?"

"Hmm…" Dustin trails off as they both become lost in their own thoughts. How can they save the others? They don't even know what the setting looks like! That definitely makes it much harder. Jii is searching for Antis's hideout but so far, it's led to nothing. Everything has been a dead end.

A dead end…wait!

"Hey!" Dustin says suddenly, startling Emily. She looks at him in confusion.

"What is it?" she inquires, seeing a sparkle in his eye. He looks quite excited…has he found a way?

"I think I know," Dustin declares. "The Dragon Force vehicle! That's it!"

"Um…" Emily is confused, unsure of what a 'Dragon Force vehicle' is and how it can help them save their friends.

"No no, you don't understand."

"Yeah, I don't. Can you explain it?" Emily snaps, then realizes how mean it sounded. She guesses she's just a little on edge. "Sorry, I didn't mean it to come out that way"

"It's fine." Dustin waves away her apology, too excited by his plan. This might actually work! "The Dragon Force vehicle is powered by the Gem of Lost Souls-long story and not important- and Cam used it to infiltrate Lothor's ship."

"And…?" Emily still doesn't understand how this can help them. "That's cool, but I don't see-"

"It can go underground!" Dustin interrupts her. He jumps up and starts pacing back and forth. "If it can go underground, we can find them and rescue them that way without Antis knowing. Then we-"

"Can face him by ourselves with the seal!" Emily finishes excitedly, finally understanding Dustin's plan. "Knowing our friends are safe!"

"Brilliant, right?" Dustin asks jokingly. Emily nods enthusiastically and gets up to stand as well. She throws her arms around Dustin, surprising the former ninja student.

"That's amazing Dustin! What a great plan!"

"Aw, thanks Emily," Dustin says sheepishly, hugging her back.

"But to do that, we need to get this seal right!" Emily exclaims, releasing Dustin from her embrace. "It needs to be perfect."

"Right," Dustin agrees.

_To be continued…_

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

A/N: Yes I am co-writing this with StarSlingerSnitch. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon. Review, please! :) They are very much appreciated.

Confused? Don't be afraid to ask either one of us! We'll be happy to explain it to you.


End file.
